Best practices to prevent malware while torrenting by so0t8 in c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[-] so0t8@lemmy.org 1 points 11 minutes ago

Thanks for that feedback. Is that also true when using the advanced kill switch? ProtonVPN with that setting does not allow internet at all if the vpn is not connected. In the case that I must use that container, how would I do this?

Best practices to prevent malware while torrenting by so0t8 in c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[-] so0t8@lemmy.org 1 points 18 minutes ago

The only traffic allowed outbound from the torrent box should be the VPN connection. Then it doesn’t matter if routing or interface binding is set up wrong

Thanks, how could I do this with ufw?

Best practices to prevent malware while torrenting by so0t8 in c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[-] so0t8@lemmy.org 1 points 40 minutes ago

myanonamouse

Yeah that is for me a big one

Best practices to prevent malware while torrenting by so0t8 in c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[-] so0t8@lemmy.org 1 points 42 minutes ago

How could I check the file before I let it seed? They are a few gigabyte files so i guess uploading to virustotal is not really an option. I am on Linux.

Best practices to prevent malware while torrenting by so0t8 in c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[-] so0t8@lemmy.org 1 points 43 minutes ago

Thanks, really appreciated detailed response. I checked out the websites youshared, and found them really good and actually with more seeds than pirate bay so am definitely moving away from that. A couple of questions if you dont mind. I am currently using Transmission and also the ufw. Do you think what steps I have to take to link it like you said? I am quite noob on this and I can't find any step that is understandable.

Best practices to prevent malware while torrenting by so0t8 in c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[-] so0t8@lemmy.org 5 points 11 hours ago

Your best bet is to join MAM. From there, you can progress to Aither and other sites within a reasonable amount of time through the invite forums.

Could you elaborate what is MAM?

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Best practices to prevent malware while torrenting (lemmy.org)
submitted 11 hours ago by so0t8@lemmy.org to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
18 comments fedilink

Hi there

I would like to prevent to the best of my ability getting malware or virus when torrenting. I know there is never 100% certainty of not getting one, but i'd like to mitigate it. I'd like to ask your advice/expertise.

These are the practices I use. Please build on them if you think there is room for improvement and how.

  • First off, I use linux (transmission) and only download media (music, movies), no software. I know this already lowers the risks significantly since most malware are on .exe for Windows, however I am aware mp3/mp4 and mkv files can still embed malware to exploit VLC vulnerabilities and also Linux.

  • I use Proton VPN with kill switch in advanced settings - no internet (at all) allowed when the VPN is not connected.

  • I limit opening the downloaded media in the PC. After seeding for a few months, I usually transfer them into an external HDD and delete them from the PC. Media may be used in a TV/phone for viewing/listening.

  • I have downloaded torrent media going into a separate internal SSD which is encrypted (obviously unencrypted when torrenting). This probably doesn't do much, but I get somewhat piece of mind when I am not torrenting and the ssd is locked.

  • I use normally pirate bay org and get the torrents with the higher number of seeds.

I understood joining some private tracker may help, but I found it difficult to join. Any advice and recommendations are welcome!

so0t8

joined 12 hours ago