It’s really important you only download torrents you trust. Torrents can contain dangerous contents such as malware, spyware, and ransomware. Our Malwarebytes software blocked a malicious website. Make sure you have your antivirus is always running, with real-time monitoring enabled, to avoid visiting dangerous websites. Even then, read through comments to make sure nobody has had a bad experience with a file. It’s always best to stick to trusted sources, like the Internet Archive, to avoid nasty surprises. Sadly, many file-sharing websites host fake links and sometimes links to virus-ridden files. You must be careful which one you use, though. There a thousands of websites hosting torrent links around the world.

See detailed instructions for configuring your torrent client later in this article.

Be aware, that it will block your connection if your VPN IP address changes. In practice, whitelisting works like a VPN kill switch. It lets you whitelist IP addresses to torrent from, and blocks any other connections. In your torrent client, look for an ‘IP binding’ setting. Based on our analysis, qBittorent is the safest torrent client.Ī properly configured torrent client can maximize your security and privacy while leeching and seeding files. We’ve tested qBittorrent, uTorrent, Deluge, BitTorrent, Transmission and Vuze. It’s important to use a torrent client that is not only easy to use but, crucially, doesn’t contain viruses and protects your privacy.įor instance, the popular uTorrent is full of invasive adverts. There are many popular torrent clients available, but not all of them are equally secure and private. We strongly recommend you use a secure torrenting VPN rather than a proxy. In other words, your ISP can still see you’re torrenting, and can throttle your connection. Some torrenters choose to use proxy services when torrenting, such as the Shadowsocks SOCKS5 proxy.Ī proxy is similar to a VPN in that it changes your IP address, but it doesn’t encrypt your torrenting traffic.

What About Using Proxy Services for Torrenting? For example, ensure your VPN’s kill switch function is enabled to prevent unexpected IP exposures. It’s essential you configure your VPN correctly, too. Only disconnect from your VPN when you are absolutely certain that the torrent client has stopped. When you exit from within the client’s menu, make sure the program isn’t still running in your device’s systems tray. Unless your VPN is already on, your real IP address is exposed when this happens.įor this reason, you must have your VPN on before you launch torrent client and after you close the program. Torrent clients can start seeding as soon as you launch them. Many people get caught out when torrenting by not keeping their VPN running when the torrent client is active.

Magnet link to torrent client on server