How To Secure Utorrent
BitTorrent for Beginners: Protecting Your Privacy – HowToGeek
Photo by Benjamin Gustafsson
Anytime you’re making connections to anything outside of your network, security should be a concern, and this is doubly true for users of BitTorrent, who are getting data from all sorts of unknown sources. Here’s how to protect yourself.
Note: This is the third part in our series explaining BitTorrent—be sure and read the first part of the series, where we explained what BitTorrent is and how it works, and then the second part, where we explained how to create your own torrents.
Security Threats
It’s important to understand what types of threats are out there in order to effectively block them, so let’s take a look.
Viruses and other forms of malware are the most basic of threats. The files you download are foreign and you should treat them as such; scan them promptly after downloading them. Most major anti-virus programs have the ability to add folders for auto-scanning, which is probably the ideal solution if you either don’t have time or don’t want to waste effort doing things manually.
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On the more serious side, it shouldn’t be any surprise that your IP address is very easy to trace. While many people have never had problems, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t worry about things. In addition to people just eavesdropping on your connections, your downloads can also suffer. There are increasing incidents of “bad traffic, ” peers who send corrupt data in response to BitTorrent calls, forcing users to have to re-download those sections of their files. Users who transfer copyright-infringing material also have to worry about getting caught via these same methods. We at How-To Geek don’t condone piracy, of course, but we do support security, and the best way to stay secure is to stay informed.
Encryption
One way to help alleviate these problems is to enable encryption for your connections. This prevents the data sent between two peers from being understood by onlookers, although it doesn’t prevent them from seeing their IP addresses or certain details from the tracker, such as amount of data transferred.
This is not a perfect solution, however. Encryption has to be supported by your peers as well, and they may not have their clients set to use it. Some trackers don’t even allow encryption, but if yours does, it’s not a bad idea to enable preferring encrypted connections, but allowing unencrypted transfers if none are present.
Enable Encryption in uTorrent
Open uTorrent, go to Options > Preferences, and then click where it says BitTorrent on the left.
Under where it says “Protocol Encryption, ” choose Enabled and click on Allow incoming legacy connections. This will allow outbound encryption but still accept non-encrypted connections when there are no encrypted connections available.
Enable Encryption in Transmission
Open Transmission and click on Edit > Preferences (Linux) or Transmission > Preferences (Mac OS). Then click on the Privacy tab (Linux) or the Peers tab (Mac OS).
Under the “Encryption mode” dropdown box, select Prefer encryption. This will still accept unencrypted connections when there is a lack of encrypted connections available.
IP Blockers
Another thing you can do is use an IP blocker. These programs run alongside an existing firewall (you DO have a firewall, don’t you? ) and your BitTorrent client and they filter out IP addresses based on blocklists. Blocklists compound ranges of IPs that contain known problems, such as monitoring and bad packet transfer. How well they work is up for debate, and there is no consensus on whether they do anything at all. Websites and trackers that are fine sometimes get blocked, and you have to manually allow them.
If you’re a cautious person, however, it’s not a bad idea to run an IP blocker just in case. The most well-known ones are PeerBlock for Windows and Moblock for Linux, and Transmission for both Mac and Linux has the ability to use a blocklist. PeerBlock, once installed, allows you to download and update blocklists and automatically starts to block IP addresses.
Install and Configure PeerBlock on Windows
Download PeerBlock from their website. The beta is pretty stable and provides the most useful features, and is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 (all versions).
Installation is a breeze, and once it’s finished and you open up PeerBlock, it will start the configuration wizard. Hit Next.
On this screen, you can choose which types of blocklists to subscribe to. You can see here that we chose P2P, and threw in Spyware for good measure as well. If you’re new to this sort of thing, it’s probably best to choose Always Allow HTTP as well, since it allows all traffic through that port. If you don’t choose this option, your browsing may be affected, and you’ll find yourself having to manually allow certain websites. Click Next when you’re done. 0
Next, you can choose to schedule what and how often to update. The default are perfectly fine here, so click Next.
You’ll see a pop-up and your selected blocklists will automatically update. Once they’ve finished, the Close button won’t be grayed out and you can click it.
You’ll be greeted with the main PeerBlock screen, where you can view the history of blocked attempts to access your computer, manage your lists, check for updates manually, and so on. You can exit via the icon in your system tray.
Blocking IPs on Linux and Mac OS
Moblock is a little more powerful and complicated, and although there is a GUI by the name of Mobloquer available, it’s not a walk in the park to set up. Furthermore, it only works on Linux, and there aren’t a wide variety of comparable tools available on Mac OS that work as well. Serendipitously for us, however, Transmission can download and utilize blocklists very easily!
Open Transmission and click on Edit > Preferences (Linux) or Transmission > Preferences (Mac OS). Then click on the Privacy tab (Linux) or Peers tab (Mac OS) once again.
Click the checkmarks next to the Enable blocklist and Enable automatic updates boxes, and then click the Update button. Transmission will automatically download and utilize the P2P blocklist and will display the total number of rules being followed. That’s it!
Private Trackers
Staying safe is important because you don’t know who (or what) is out there. But, what if you had a reliable source? Private trackers serve as an ideal long-term solution because of a few key reasons:
A closed, trusted community: The tracker requires registration and there is a screening process. Breaking rules can lead to being banned, and in many cases, if people you invite into the community do something to get banned, you also get banned. While this may seem like a looming storm-cloud, as long as you’re careful you’ll be safe from most threats and so will everyone else.
Strict connection rules: Only approved clients and methods are allowed. This cuts down on users faking ratios, leeching, etc. and simultaneously dictates how connections should be made to maximize speed and safety.
Standards for torrents: Uploaded files have standards as to quality and format, as well as being virus and malware free. Most trackers require previews for disambiguation of similar torrents.
Ratios: Each user is required to maintain a certain ratio of uploads to downloads. This is often judged via total amount in MB, although add new torrents can give you a bonus, or there may be donation-based perks. This ensures that files have a high availability and helps with speed, although this admittedly varies based on the individual torrents themselves.
As you can see, this forms a pretty good long-term solution to a lot of issues you could potentially encounter while using BitTorrent. You get a lot of perks when you join a private tracker, and there are many out there. The main downside is that you have to wait for registration or else find someone who can send you an invite, which can take some time.
If you’re the cautious type, it wouldn’t hurt to combine these strategies to mitigate security and privacy threats. With cybercrime a very real danger, it’s a good idea to take control of your computer’s security through tools like these, without compromising your internet activity too much. The most important thing you can do, however, is make smart decisions, both in what you download and where you go, and stay informed of what’s out there. Doing your research is the best way to stay safe.
Edit: The tab under Preferences for Transmission on Mac OS was fixed. It now correctly refers to the Peers tab.
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How to Make uTorrent More Secure – Small Business – Chron …
While often associated with illegal fire sharing and piracy, BitTorrent networks serve many legitimate purposes as well. Many businesses use BitTorrent clients such as uTorrent to share files among employees as well as provide access to product manuals and updates to customers. However, just like any other protocol that enables other users to access your computer, using uTorrent does expose you to the risk of someone hacking your computer or planting a virus. Therefore, to prevent BitTorrent malicious users from accessing your computer without your knowledge, you should take a few steps to secure uTorrent. Launch uTorrent on your computer. Click “Options” and then “Preferences” on the menu bar. Click the “Connection” value in the Preferences list. Click the “Random Port” button under the Listening Port label. Select the “Randomize Port Each Start, ” “Enable UPnP Port Mapping, ” “Enable NAT-PMP Port Mapping” and “Add Windows Firewall Exception” options; then click the “Apply” button. Click the “BitTorrent” value in the Preferences list. Click the “Outgoing” drop-down list in the Protocol Encryption section and select “Enabled. ” Enter a fake IP address or hostname in the “IP/Hostname to report to tracker” field. For instance, enter a hostname such as “” or an IP address such as “10. 0. 1. ” If you enter something in this field, other torrent users supplying bits to you or downloading from you will not see your actual IP address. Click the “Apply” button and then “OK. ” Restart uTorrent and use the application normally to download or share torrents. References Warnings If your business uses a VPN, ensure that you activate it before starting uTorrent. Using a BitTorrent client behind a VPN provides the most secure and anonymous way to download or share files on a peer-to-peer network. Writer Bio Jeff Grundy has been writing computer-related articles and tutorials since 1995. Since that time, Grundy has written many guides to using various applications that are published on numerous how-to and tutorial sites. Born and raised in South Georgia, Grundy holds a Master of Science degree in mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
qBittorrent Privacy Guide (VPN/Proxy & Encryption)
QBitTorrent is my favorite torrent client (because it’s open-source and lightweight. )But QBitTorrent (like all torrent clients) doesn’t come pre-configured for privacy. By default, most of the privacy settings are disabled, in favor of increasing peer and tracker that’s not all…Every bittorrent client has the same privacy flaws inherent in the p2p protocol, which leaks identifying information (notably your IP address) to peers and trackers. Additionally, your ISP can read your traffic directly (if you don’t use encryption) guide will show you how to plug those leaks, dramatically increasing QBittorrent’s accomplish this, we’ll use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) and/or SOCKS proxy to hide your QBittorrent activity. So let’s get started, shall we? BitTorrent privacy theoryWhy torrent privacy mattersp2p activity is publicBecause of their decentralized and public nature, p2p networks (like BitTorrent) are extremely easy to monitor. Anyone with a torrent client can view peers downloading a public torrent file and record their IP address and rrents aren’t encrypted by defaultThe BitTorrent protocol doesn’t have a built-in encryption layer. This means anyone with access to your data stream (e. g. your internet provider) can read your file-sharing traffic in, how to fix it? We know the problem, so all we have to do is plug each leak individually:Protect your identity: Torrent peers see the IP address of the device that is connecting to the torrent swarm. By routing your traffic through a third-party server (like a VPN or proxy) your peers will see the VPN’s IP address and not your own. This effectively shields your identity. Encrypt your traffic: By wrapping our torrent traffic in a layer of strong encryption (like your bank’s website uses) we can prevent your internet provider from seeing what you’re eferred privacy tools:There are two cost-effective tools that let you do this with minimal rtual Private Network (VPN): This is the best option because it requires minimal configuration, more virtual IP addresses, and built-in encryption. Cost: $3-10/ Proxy: This is the 2nd-best option which provides IP address cloaking but no built-in encryption. We can add lightweight encryption for free in QBittorrent’s settings however. Cost: $3-$6/mIn the following sections, you’ll learn how to configure and use these tools for maximum privacy. It’s really easy to ’ll also recommend a few well-known and trustworthy VPN services to consider. QBittorrent VPN SetupIn this section we’ll cover:Overview (how it works)Recommended VPN servicesRecommended VPN Software settingsOptimal QBittorrent settingsVerifying and testing your VPN setupHow a VPN works with qBittorrentThis is the easiest setup method and can be accomplished in less than 5 minutes. it works: When you install the VPN software and connect to a server, the VPN will automatically encrypt all your internet traffic (torrents included) and route it through a remote server. This changes your public IP address, hiding your identity from torrent VPNs for qBittorrentAny non-logging VPN service will work, as long as they allow torrent traffic on their network. Here are a few recommended services that we’ve used happily for years:NordVPN ($3. 99/month and up)| our reviewIPVanish ($6. 49+ per month) |our reviewCyberghost ($4. 99+ per month) | our reviewAlso read: The best (and worst) VPNs for TorrentingHow to setup the VPN softwareOnce you sign up for a service, you’ll be emailed a link to download the software either directly or from your account portal. Then simply install the software on your device and login with the username/password you ’re using NordVPN to demo these steps, but all 3 VPNs (recommended above) have the same (or similar) settings the kill-switchThe #1 advantage of a VPN is it hides your real IP address. But if it disconnects, qBittorrent could reconnect outside the VPN exposing your true IP address. To avoid this we’ll use a kill-switch which shuts down your internet connection if the VPN to Settings (gear icon) > General settings > Internet Kill SwitchAnd simply turn it on. You can also turn on the application kill-switch (which will close specified apps like qBittorrent). Disable IPv6 and DNS LeaksThese risks are less of a security risk while torrenting, but there’s no reason not to fix them. Learn more in our VPN leaks rdVPN has both of these disabled by default in their software (no settings to change). Other VPN’s (like IPVanish) require a software setting to plug to configure QBittorrentIn this section, we’ll discuss the optimal QBittorrent options and settings for use with a on ‘Anonymous Mode’If you’re using a VPN or proxy (like we are) QBittorrent has an ‘anonymous mode’ that lets you prevent peers from seeing certain metadata like what torrent client you use and your listening enable anonymous mode in QBittorrent:Go to: Tools > Options > BitTorrent > Enable anonymous modeEnabling this setting is completely optional. Your real IP address will be hidden by the VPN regardless of whether you enable anonymous encryption properlyQBittorrent has a (weak) encryption option built-in that can allow (or require) your software to only connect to encryption-capable requiring encryption reduces your number of available peers, and the VPN provides much better encryption anyway. So you should set this to ‘allow’ encryption for maximum peer to: Tools > Options > BitTorrent > Encryption ModeThen change the setting to: ‘Allow Encryption’ your setupIt’s a good idea to test your VPN setup to ensure that speeds are good and your IP address is being properly hidden from QBittorrent Test: You can run a simple speed test using a well-seeded (and legal) test torrent like the latest ubuntu version: Follow our easy guide on how to check your torrent IP address with a tracking torrent. QBittorrent Proxy SetupIn this section we’ll cover the required steps to correctly configure a SOCKS5 proxy in in this section:use SOCKS5 and not HTTPBest SOCKS5 proxy providersGetting your proxy username/passwordConfiguring the proxyOther QBittorrent settingsTesting your setupMake sure your proxy is SOCKS5 (not HTTP)The most common error I see people make is trying to use an HTTP/HTTPS proxy and expecting it to hide your IP address guess what? Torrent clients can’t use the HTTP protocol for peer-to-peer connections (only tracker connections) result: HTTP proxies will leak real your IP address to peers (no privacy) use a SOCKS5 proxy. Not HTTP. Ok? Which proxy service to use? Nearly all the p2p proxy services we recommend are also VPN services. And most of those actually include both VPN service and proxy service for one low monthly there’s no need to buy a separate or standalone proxy recommend:NordVPN – Most server locations, affordableIPVanish – Fast and reliablePrivate Internet AccessFind your proxy username/passwordFor security reasons, many combo VPN/proxy services use login credentials for the proxy service. Typically you will log into your account panel (in your web browser) and generate unique login credentials for the services that require you to generate username/password:IPVanishPrivate Internet AccessFor a step-by-step guide on how to do it (it’s easy) check out our torrent proxy nfigure the proxyBefore you start this step, make sure you have the following information (provided by your proxy service)Proxy addressProxy port numberUsername/PasswordWe’ll be using NordVPN for demonstration purposes, using a Netherlands server location. Note: NordVPNs proxy username/password is the same as your VPN login to QBittorrent’s proxy settingsYou’ll find it in the options menu:Tools > Options > ConnectionLook for the section labeled ‘Proxy Server’Fill in proxy server informationFill in the address, port and username/password for your proxy service. Also make sure the other options are checked/unchecked as shown:Type: SOCKS5Host: Address of your proxy service/serverPort: Port your proxy service uses (usually 1080 or 1025)Username/Password: proxy for peer connections: Yes (important)Use proxy only for torrents: No (important)Authentication: Yes. Required to enter username/passwordOther QBittorrent SettingsThere are a few other settings you’ll want to change for an optimal experience when using QBittorrent’s proxy ‘Anonymous Mode’This plugs various metadata leaks and is a recommended setting when using a proxy or VPN. To turn it on, go to:Tools > Options > BittorrentConsider adding encryptionIf you are only using a proxy (No VPN) then you may want to encrypt your p2p traffic as well. This can alleviate torrent throttling and possibly circumvent ISP-based turn on you should change the encryption mode to either:Allow Encryption – A mix of encrypted and unencrypted peer connections. Maximum peer quire Encryption: Only allow encrypted connections but may have fewer available peersThis setting is accessible in: Tools > Options > BitTorrent > Encryption ModeFor more info: Read our Torrent Encryption your proxy settingsTo ensure speeds are adequate and your IP address is being hidden correctly, you should test your proxy test speeds: Download a well-seeded, legal test torrent like one of verify the proxy is hiding your IP address, you need to check your IP torrent IP address with a tracking oubleshootingThere are a couple common sources of errors when setting up the proxy:Wrong proxy credentials: Triple-check your username/password, proxy address and port wnloads are very slow: If there are enough peers but you can’t connect to them or speeds are awful, it may be port forwarding. Enable UPnP in QBittorrent connection settings or manually set up port forwarding for bittorrent on your links don’t work: Some proxy services don’t play nice with magnet links. It’s annoying. Sometimes tech support can solve the issue for you, but usually it’s easiest to download the actually. torrent file instead of using mmary & final thoughtsEveryone should use some sort of privacy technology when torrenting with QBittorrent. We prefer a VPN because of it’s simplicity and strong encryption, but using a SOCKS5 proxy is also a viable a proxy is trickier to set up correctly, and some Reddit users have found this out the hard tips we mentioned:Use the kill switchPlug other VPN privacy leaksTurn on ‘Anonymous Mode’Test your setup with a tracking torrentVPN encryption is much better than QBittorrent’s built-inRead this next:How to encrypt your TorrentsHow to use uTorrent (Like a Pro)The best VPNs for TorrentingIf you’ve got additional questions or tips make sure to hit up the comments!
Frequently Asked Questions about how to secure utorrent
How do I protect my uTorrent?
Engage the kill-switch The #1 advantage of a VPN is it hides your real IP address. But if it disconnects, qBittorrent could reconnect outside the VPN exposing your true IP address. To avoid this we’ll use a kill-switch which shuts down your internet connection if the VPN drops. And simply turn it on.Dec 31, 2019
Is uTorrent Safe 2021?
No, it won’t. Using software like u Torrent is not illegal. It’s digital piracy that is illegal.
Can uTorrent be hacked?
Compromised uTorrent clients can be abused to download a malicious torrent file. The malicious file is designed to embed a persistent backdoor and execute when Windows 10 reboots, granting the attacker remote access to the operating system at will. … Like all web apps, these clients can be hacked in various ways.Jan 29, 2020