Running strange software grabbed from unknown sources will never not be a risky proposition.

Uploading the .exe you just grabbed to virustotal and getting the all clear can indicate two very different things: It's either actually safe, or it hasn't yet been detected as malware.

You should expect that malware writers had already uploaded some variant of their work to virustotal before seeding it to ensure maximum impact.
Getting happy results from virustotal could simply mean the malware author simply tweaked their work until they saw those same results.

Notice I said "yet" above. Malware tends to eventually get flagged as such, even when it has a headstart of not being recognized correctly.
You can use that to somewhat lower the odds of getting infected, by waiting. Don't grab the latest crack that just dropped for the hottest game or whatever.
Wait a few weeks. Let other people get infected first and have antiviruses DBs recognize a new malware. Then maybe give it a shot.

And of course, the notion that keygens will often be flagged as "bad" software by unhelpful antivirus just further muddies the waters since it teaches you to ignore or altogether disable your antivirus in one of the most risky situation you'll put yourself into.

Let's be clear: There's nothing safe about any of this, and if you do this on a computer that has access to anything you wouldn't want to lose, you are living dangerously indeed.

nice guide! i'd mention that it's good courtesy for your seed to leech ratio to be >=1 so you're giving back what you took. given that you're able to seed safely of course

After a quick glance over your post, I have some thoughts;

Free: ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN is good for torrenting on the paid plan, not the free plan. Proton doesn't allow torrenting on their free plan. They will block your connection if they detect that you are torrenting, or they will disconnect you from their VPN tunnel - exposing your real IP on the torrent.

Paid: Mullvad

Mullvad is a decent choice, though they no longer support port forwarding. ~~You are still able to download, though you won't be able to seed iirc~~

VirusTotal

The problem with a virustotal scan is that pirated software is often false flagged for malware. It's difficult to tell what is safe from what you've downloaded. It's best to download from a trusted uploader, though that doesn't always guarantee safety as they can always go rogue (As an example, FTUApps were seen as safe until one of their uploads to 1337x contained malware).

Older uploads tend to have less false positives in my experience, though it can be very easy to become complacent.

edit; score out comment about mullvad seeding, others have pointed out that it still works fine! oops

I highly encourage you to update the article to have a section for binding network interface to the VPN. I didn't do this and one day my vpn disconnected and it used me actual IP address and I got DMCA'd.

https://www.itopvpn.com/blog/qbittorrent-vpn-4498

I'd say blocking traffic to/from pirated software via a firewall is less something you should try if it isn't working and more something you should be doing everytime no matter what. That traffic is going to at best the vendor you ripped off, and at worst somewhere malicious.

If you're already pirating software then there is probably some kind of firewall solution you could also pirate to make it easier, so I don't think there's really much of an argument against it.

Step 1: Live in latam. Step 2: Sail the 7 seas.

Me: uses linux and doesn't give a shit about my current OS

You might want to explain what an OS is, since many people have no idea. I explain it like this:

“Hardware is the machine you use, like a phone or computer. Apps and games are software that run on that hardware and let you do stuff. But in order for your software to run smoothly on your hardware, another collection of software is needed to allow them to interact. Collectively this bundle of code can be called an OS or Operating System. The most common one on computers is Windows, followed by macOS, ChromeOS and Linux. Your phone runs iOS or Android (usually).

Some torrents are available for Mac, most are meant for Windows since it’s more popular and has fewer restrictions on what can be installed by users. In any case, you should always check that the app you’re downloading is going to work with your operating system.”

Page does not work with JavaScript disabled. Pretty funny, for an article about how to keep your computer secure. One of the rules of keeping your computer secure is to disable JavaScript!

I use a seedbox