Torrent repositories are a haven for viruses. You should be aware that torrents may be quite dangerous. Because of the nature of P2P networks, they provide an efficient way to infect many computers. Because they are often small files, they download fast and infiltrate your device covertly.
Before you open a torrent file, you want to know if a torrent file is safe to even consider downloading. Here are a few steps you can take.
How to torrent safely
Download legal torrents from well-known sites
Torrent sites are where you can get torrent files. However, remember that most torrent sites do not guarantee legal content. They may not be aware of whether the content is lawful or not. To be secure, download torrent files from a site that guarantees legal content.
The following are several websites that assure legal content. You can try one of these to see whether you can download the torrent files you need.
- The Internet Archive
- Legit Torrents
- OpenOffice
- Panda.cd
- Public Domain Torrents
- Etree
Use a VPN for torrenting safely
A VPN is an abbreviation for a virtual private network. You may use a VPN to hide your IP address and appear to connect to the network from a different place. Others will not know your true IP address if you use a VPN to access the torrent network. This way, even if you download illegal stuff accidentally, you won’t get detected. This will protect you while downloading torrent files.
Furthermore, a VPN helps protect your data from being stolen by hackers and spies. Hackers and spies will not be able to trace you since your IP address is hidden. You will also be safer as a result of this.
Use antivirus program
When downloading torrent files, we suggest that you use an antivirus tool. As previously stated, certain torrent downloads may contain viruses. Antivirus software can identify viruses and keep you secure. If you have an antivirus application installed on your computer, ensure it is turned on. If you haven’t already done so, you should do so now.
How to recognize fake torrents
Check the seeder/leecher ratio
Always select torrents that are in good health. There are a lot of seeders and a lot of leechers in these torrents. For example, a torrent with roughly 3,000 seeders and 1,500 leechers is a good indicator. This means you’ll be able to download it as fast as your Internet connection allows.
Occasionally, torrents will have many seeders but just a few leechers. Naturally, you may believe that you are downloading a fresh torrent and that others must catch up. However, you should know that most people who download torrents immediately become seeders. So, if a torrent has 10,000 seeders but only 500 or 1,000 leechers, you should rethink since something is wrong.
Download ‘verified’ torrents
Torrents are checked by a team of administrators on the most prominent websites. Their job is to ensure that torrents are free of malware and that you get the files you’re looking for. When torrents are checked, they will be marked as verified.’ Some torrent websites employ different jargon. For example, on The Pirate Bay, verified uploaders are referred to as ‘VIP uploaders,’ They have a green skull icon next to their username.
The downside is that there aren’t many verified torrents. It would be impossible to check all of the torrent files available because there are millions of them.
WMA and WMV files should be avoided
Almost all torrent video files are MKV, MP4, or AVI files. The main reason is that various video file formats may be relatively small while maintaining high quality. As a result, they are ideal for internet transfers.
Consider it fake if you come across a movie file containing WMA or WMV files. These are obsolete video formats, and these torrents will direct you to places where you will download codecs.
Be wary of unusual browser redirects and new tabs
Extensive browser redirects are a dead giveaway that you’re on a rogue torrent site. You should exercise caution if you do not have ad-blocking software installed. While downloading the requested torrent, you may encounter several redirects and pop-up windows. If this happens to you, it is best to leave that torrent site. It is undeniably rife with malware content.
Avoid downloading the latest movies
We’ve all been there. You’re perusing torrents online when you come across a torrent for a brand-new movie release. Then you are enticed and consider downloading the movie. First and foremost, this is a violation of intellectual property rights. Second, you will very certainly wind up with a virus.
This is a systematic method used by malicious uploaders to propagate malware. If a movie comes out in the next few days, there will always be a slew of torrents claiming to have a leaked version. In 99.99 percent of cases, these are fakes.
Double-check rar, tar, and zip files
A specified amount of torrents are sent in the form of a single RAR file. These files are archives that must be opened and extracted from. If malware is contained in the archive, this might be a very easy method for your computer to become infected.
However, not all RAR or ZIP files are infected with viruses. This is only applicable to movies. Movie files do not need to be further compressed into RAR files because they are already compressed. Because the bulk of the file is already archived, you must employ an antivirus to inspect the contents of such archives.
Make sure to read the comments
When you browse torrent websites, you’ll notice that most contain comment sections. These remarks are more useful than you realize. The torrent community is very friendly, as people like to share their thoughts on downloading files. Make it a point to read the comments section at all times.
Always use trusted applications
When downloading a torrent, you should only use trusted applications. You could have a preferred movie player and music player, for example. Don’t follow the instructions in some torrents that ask you to download third-party software.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to torrent?
It all depends on where you live. You may lawfully pirate copyrighted information in countries such as Switzerland and Spain if you don’t try to profit from it. And while anti-torrenting legislation exists in Mexico and Romania, it is not enforced. On the other hand, torrenting movies or video games may result in a fine in the United States, Germany, or Canada.
How risky is torrenting without a VPN?
It’s only dangerous if you reside in a country where torrenting is heavily punished, with large fines or jail time. It’s also dangerous if your ISP aggressively analyzes traffic for indicators of torrenting and shuts torrent-downloading accounts.
Remember that VPNs can also protect you from DDoS attacks and port scanning.
Conclusion
Even if you follow all of these precautions, there is still a potential that you will encounter problems. Using torrent websites to download has caused a lot of controversies.
As a result, you should carefully analyze the nature of the content you’re downloading, its legal and copyright status, and the potential implications of downloading copyrighted content using BitTorrent. If you properly follow the guidelines and download torrents, you will never have any troubles.
