# uTorrent (may) Silent Install Crypto Currency Miner



## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 7, 2015)

Hide yo kids, hide yo wife, cuz uTorrent may be installing cryptocurrency miners all up in your PC. At some recent point in time, uTorrent users have been experiencing odd slowdowns and high CPU usage reports on their systems only to find that they were coming from a cryptocurrency miner installed on their system, called Epic Scale.

After some users went snooping, they discovered that Epic Scale was being installed with a uTorrent install/update, but whether it was a ploy from uTorrent or one of the many ad offers uTorrent has stuffed in their installers is unknown at this time. The situation isn't entirely clear, either, as the reports of this miner being installed are infrequent to a point that some users must be triggering something with their uTorrent updates/installers that is causing the silent install of the miner.



			
				Torrent Freak said:
			
		

> The silent install appears to happen selectively, and not on all machines. TF had confirmation from various sides and with screenshots of every step of the install process where no Epic Scale screen appeared. In one case, the opt-out screen was eventually shown after several re-installs.


 
BitTorrent Inc has made a small response to this claim, and originally didn't believe it at all after moderators deliberately deleted the first forum thread made on uTorrent's site regarding the issue.


			
				BitTorrent Inc said:
			
		

> “In terms of user complaints in our forums, we always take these claims seriously. We highly value our users, they are a passionate and tech savvy group. In the last 24 hours we have received less than a dozen inquiries out of several million offers.”
> 
> “We have reviewed the issue closely and can confirm there is no silent install happening. We are continuing to look at the issue. But this is most likely these users accepted the offer during install.”


 
Source

It's strongly recommended any uTorrent user checks their PC for any malware and miners that could or couldn't have been installed.

In the mean time, any uTorrent users should check out other (safer) torrent programs, such as qBittorent, Tixati, or Transmission.  You can also find an older version of uTorrent, such as 2.2.1, which is considered the last "great" update from uTorrent.


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## Kippykip (Mar 7, 2015)

woah


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## Lucifer666 (Mar 7, 2015)

good thing I'm on a mac


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## vahnx (Mar 7, 2015)

I hope this isn't true but seems unlikely 
I've been a uTorrent user for several years. While I don't agree with their most recent builds (ads everywhere) you can still go into settings and turn them off.
But installing a miner without me knowing? I'm moving to Deluge.

Edit: http://forum.utorrent.com/topic/950...ware-silently-installed-with-latest-utorrent/



Lucifer666 said:


> good thing I'm on a mac


 

uTorrent runs on Mac


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## nl255 (Mar 7, 2015)

Unfortunately there is no way to migrate to another torrent program short of manually opening every single torrent one at a time.  If you have a ton of different torrents with multiple download folders on different drives, then switching over could easily takes weeks.


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## Lucifer666 (Mar 7, 2015)

vahnx said:


> uTorrent runs on Mac


 



Tom Bombadildo said:


> uTorrent may be installing cryptocurrency miners all up *in your PC.*


 



Tom Bombadildo said:


> It's strongly recommended any uTorrent user *checks their PC* for any malware and miners that could or couldn't have been installed.


 






uTorrent runs on a mac, but the crap that it's installing probably doesn't (just an assumption cos a lot of crap isn't developed for mac), and just did a quick search on Epic Scale's website et voila, "Windows only"


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## Kippykip (Mar 7, 2015)

Just downgraded to the 2013 uTorrent, has no ads anyway


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## vahnx (Mar 7, 2015)

Oh I had know idea Mac's weren't PC's. I better take a computer course.


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## Hells Malice (Mar 7, 2015)

vahnx said:


> Oh I had know idea Mac's weren't PC's. I better take a computer course.


 
Pretty sure he means he's safe because nobody makes virus' for macs because those poor bastards are suffering enough already by just using that OS.


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## vahnx (Mar 7, 2015)

Hells Malice said:


> Pretty sure he means he's safe because nobody makes virus' for macs because those poor bastards are suffering enough already by just using that OS.


 

I wish that was the case but I encountered a virus on a mac a few months ago. The user installed a "codec pack" to watch a fake movie download. Suddenly fake OS pop-ups and browser hijackings galore.


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## jumpman17 (Mar 7, 2015)

I don't seem to have anything like that running on my computer. I know Malwarebytes blocked uTorrent from installing their stupid Web Toolbar thing with the last update, but that was it.


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Mar 7, 2015)

Utorrents been junk for the past couple years now. Bundled with all kinds of adware/spyware/crapware etc. Why anybody still uses it is beyond me. I moved on from utorrent when all this crap started happening.


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## Apache Thunder (Mar 7, 2015)

I haven't updated uTorrent since 3.4.2 (on build 33883 to be specific). There was something in an update I didn't want to *** with, so I stopped updating it. What is the latest version of uTorrent anyway and is the one I have come with this crap? I haven't noticed any CPU spikes. My internet is generally ***t all the time, so network spikes I wouldn't really notice.


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## vahnx (Mar 7, 2015)

"We can confirm that the Epic Scale partnership is, per our policy, an optional install presented to users during the install of µtorrent."

Is there any truth to this? I know they try tricking people by alternating Yes/No positions and Agree/Disagree during installation but from what I hear, this is not the case?


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## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 7, 2015)

vahnx said:


> "We can confirm that the Epic Scale partnership is, per our policy, an optional install presented to users during the install of µtorrent."
> 
> Is there any truth to this? I know they try tricking people by alternating Yes/No positions and Agree/Disagree during installation but from what I hear, this is not the case?


 
If you read the OP, you'd see that nobody actually knows why the install is happening, only that it's happening with uTorrent. It could just be a broken installer, or it could be intentional, but nobody right now knows for sure.


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## FireEmblemGuy (Mar 7, 2015)

What surprises me isn't just that people are actually using modern uTorrent, it's that people are actually torrenting via their personal computers rather than setting up a secure seedbox for a couple bucks a month. I suppose it's not necessary if you're only downloading completely legal torrents, but it certainly limits security issues.


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## VinsCool (Mar 7, 2015)

So, use another torrent client.
Case solved XD


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## 2Hack (Mar 7, 2015)

I left uTorrent after fighting that bs Conduit shit for the 2nd/3rd time. 
I'm now using qBittorrent and have no issues whatsoever. Not feeling bad about the switch


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## VinsCool (Mar 7, 2015)

2Hack said:


> I left uTorrent after fighting that bs Conduit shit for the 2nd/3rd time.
> I'm now using qBittorrent and have no issues whatsoever. Not feeling bad about the switch


 
OMG search Conduit crap was pain in the arse to remove ><


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## 2Hack (Mar 7, 2015)

VinsCool said:


> OMG search Conduit crap was pain in the arse to remove ><


Not just that, it was in every fucking update  then my dad would blame me for it. Fuck that shit man! Hate it so much.
Haven't had utorrent in years now ^.^


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 7, 2015)

FireEmblemGuy said:


> What surprises me isn't just that people are actually using modern uTorrent, it's that people are actually torrenting via their personal computers rather than setting up a secure seedbox for a couple bucks a month. I suppose it's not necessary if you're only downloading completely legal torrents, but it certainly limits security issues.


It's partly due to the whole "It won't happen to me" mentality, partly because the whole point of torrenting (for the vast majority of people) is to get things for free, and partly because they don't know anything about it.


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## jurassicplayer (Mar 7, 2015)

I haven't used uTorrent in eons. Those people using old versions of uTorrent...maybe it's because I've become so accustomed to Arch and Android, but...AHAHAAHAHHAHAHAA U AND UR OUTDATED SHIT.


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## Acidflare (Mar 7, 2015)

here's a port of transmission-qt to windows http://sourceforge.net/projects/trqtw/
it gets update very regularly last update was roughly about a week ago.


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## Walker D (Mar 7, 2015)

holy crap ..I knew that Utorrent was getting crappier with each update, but having malwares bundled with it? ..that's a new level of crap

I glad that I never passed beyond the version 2.1.1


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## WiiCube_2013 (Mar 7, 2015)

Don't know what's worse: People who use an outdated version and insecure or the latest version of uTorrent. They're both rotten.

I've decided to use qBittorrent and swap it for another one!


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## Xabring (Mar 7, 2015)

well that explains all the crap I cleaned last week from my dad´s computer. gotta switch to another torrent then.


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## TecXero (Mar 7, 2015)

I forgot uTorrent was a thing. I switched to Transmission a while back and never looked back. I don't know if Transmission has a Windows or Mac port, though.


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## Taleweaver (Mar 7, 2015)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> It's strongly recommended any uTorrent user checks their PC for any malware and miners that could or couldn't have been installed.


 
For the record: PC users should check for malware and virusses from time to time anyway.

Personally, I switch those things up quite regular. After utorrent, I tried tixati and now qbittorrent.

this may be an interesting guide for those not sure what to pick.


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## zero2exe (Mar 7, 2015)

Thanks for the info, I wanted to get rid of utorrent for a while but now I have a good excuse + alternatives I didn't know existed.


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## Aeter (Mar 7, 2015)

2Hack said:


> I left uTorrent after fighting that bs Conduit shit for the 2nd/3rd time.
> I'm now using qBittorrent and have no issues whatsoever. Not feeling bad about the switch


Same here, got tired their bs and installed qBittorrent.


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## Ashtonx (Mar 7, 2015)

At some point i got tired of issues with old utorrent and new one was too much crap to deal with so i switched to qbittorrent. Guess i made the right choice.


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## OncRN (Mar 7, 2015)

Split from utorrent a couple of years back.  It was like an ill-fated romantic relationship.  At first, everything was perfect- it was new and exciting and I enjoyed every minute of it.  But just when I got comfortable and thought everything was perfect, all sorts of strange stuff started happening, and it was different.  Things got complicated...things changed.  So that's when I left.  Never went back.


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## LittleFlame (Mar 7, 2015)

good thing i've always used Vuze


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## Ashtonx (Mar 7, 2015)

In casy anyone plans to use old version. I switched since at some point it seemed like my utorrent tried to ddos someone, dunno if it was some sort of bug getting exploited or whatever but it pretty much overloaded my network while sending data at speed way above my limit.

As for qbit - only issue i had was stalling, dunno how i resolved it but it can be a headache if you end up getting the problem. Still nothing compared to problems i've had with utorrent.


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## FAST6191 (Mar 7, 2015)

Tom you are fired; you had a perfect opportunity to use a variation on "A mining we will go" and you missed out

The bot farmers go around
Malware is not like days of yore
The black hats they go underground
And never miss a flaw

    A-mining we will go
    A-mining we will go
    Our stolen CPU cycles in their hands
    A-mining we will go


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## p1ngpong (Mar 7, 2015)

Any long time uTorrent user knows it has been junk for quite some time, the ads in client being the most obvious sign of their philosophy. I stuck with uTorrent just for the fact that it did the job, it always served me well in the past, too lazy to change to something else etc. Anyway even though I haven't been affected by this miner as far as I know it is time to uninstall uTorrent forever and never use them again, there is simply no way of coming back from this you can not trust them ever again.


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## LittleFlame (Mar 7, 2015)

p1ngpong said:


> Any long time uTorrent user knows it has been junk for quite some time, the ads in client being the most obvious sign of their philosophy. I stuck with uTorrent just for the fact that it did the job, it always served me well in the past, too lazy to change to something else etc. Anyway even though I haven't been affected by this miner as far as I know it is time to uninstall uTorrent forever and never use them again, there is simply no way of coming back from this you can not trust them ever again.


 
try Vuze (azureus) it works way better


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## GaaraPrime (Mar 7, 2015)

How do I know whether I have Epic Scale installed on my PC? Is it a hidden spyware?

I have ESET Smart Security and that pretty much takes care of whatever crap my PC comes across, but I just wanna be safe 

*Edit:* Never mind. I highly doubt I have it...

https://www.how-to-remove.com/epic-scale/

ESET-NOD32 - Win32/EpicScale.A potentially unwanted

If ESET sees Epic Scale as that, then I highly doubt I have it


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## raulpica (Mar 7, 2015)

p1ngpong said:


> Any long time uTorrent user knows it has been junk for quite some time, the ads in client being the most obvious sign of their philosophy. I stuck with uTorrent just for the fact that it did the job, it always served me well in the past, too lazy to change to something else etc. Anyway even though I haven't been affected by this miner as far as I know it is time to uninstall uTorrent forever and never use them again, there is simply no way of coming back from this you can not trust them ever again.


Same here, I've wanted to change it at least 2 times in the last 6 months but never did. This is finally what tips the scale.

I'm now looking for something alternative, open-source preferably. I want third parties to be able to check the shit they put into it.

EDIT: Tom Bombadildo Tixati looks shady as well. I'll go with qBittorrent.


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 7, 2015)

TeamScriptKiddies said:


> Utorrents been junk for the past couple years now. Bundled with all kinds of adware/spyware/crapware etc. Why anybody still uses it is beyond me. I moved on from utorrent when all this crap started happening.


you can disable and block all that crap in the settings it's not hard to do.


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## raulpica (Mar 7, 2015)

Bladexdsl said:


> you can disable and block all that crap in the settings it's not hard to do.


Not the effin ads everywhere though.


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 7, 2015)

raulpica said:


> Not the effin ads everywhere though.


yes you can in advanced settings


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## raulpica (Mar 7, 2015)

Bladexdsl said:


> yes you can in advanced settings


I've checked at least 30 times, and otherwise a program like "Pimp my uTorrent" wouldn't have been created. You can't.

http://schizoduckie.github.io/PimpMyuTorrent/

EDIT: Whoops like you're right. Funny, I've never found those advanced settings apparently: http://forum.utorrent.com/topic/814...ds-except-for-the-silly-upgrade-banner/page-3

EDIT2: No way I'd have ever found out crap like this:


> Hidden menu = Options > Preferences > *Hold F2/Shift* while clicking Advanced:


wtf


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 7, 2015)

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Sponsored-Ads-from-uTorrent


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## raulpica (Mar 7, 2015)

Bladexdsl said:


> http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Sponsored-Ads-from-uTorrent
> 
> I've tried that pinpmytorrent i'm lucky to get 2mb speeds from it. UT is the only torrent program i get max download speed which is 12/24


Edited my post


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 7, 2015)

anything that says offers set it to false


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 7, 2015)

Bladexdsl said:


> you can disable and block all that crap in the settings it's not hard to do.


That's true for the ads, but people are reporting (whether they're misinformed or not, we don't know) that Epic Scale was installed silently onto their computers, without being given an option to decline the offer. Honestly, if they installed Epic Scale because they weren't paying attention to what they were confirming/accepting, then they're the ones to blame, although it's pretty messed up on uTorrent's side.


raulpica said:


> Not the effin ads everywhere though.


My uTorrent client is fully updated (although it's gonna be uninstalled soon) and there are no ads in it. Like other people have said, advanced settings.


raulpica said:


> I've checked at least 30 times, and otherwise a program like "Pimp my uTorrent" wouldn't have been created. You can't.
> 
> http://schizoduckie.github.io/PimpMyuTorrent/
> 
> EDIT: Whoops like you're right. Funny, I've never found those advanced settings apparently: http://forum.utorrent.com/topic/814...ds-except-for-the-silly-upgrade-banner/page-3


Silly goose, learn to read.

But anywhoo, I wasn't affected, but like raulpica said, I've been wanting to switch for a long time. It may not be unique to uTorrent, but when dealing with large downloads, it often crashes, without informing me. It really sucks to expect a download to be finished in 3 hours and then 3 hours later you see it crashed after 10 minutes. I tried Deluge when I first thought of switching, but I couldn't get the RSS plugin to work, so I just stuck with uTorrent. Now, I found qBittorrent, which lets me use RSS feeds perfectly. Silver lining, I guess.


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## raulpica (Mar 7, 2015)

Bladexdsl said:


> anything that says offers set it to false


No way I'm keeping it on anyway. I don't want to risk that everytime an upgrade is out something can get installed on my PC.

Also, I don't want to tell all my friends how to go in the advanced settings and disable all that stuff. It's finally time for uTorrent to retire - I'm already advising everyone I know to uninstall it.

BitTorrent Inc. has showed to be too greedy and now it'll bite them straight in the ass.



Pedeadstrian said:


> Silly goose, learn to read.


I haven't got as much time available as I did in the past, I can't google stuff all day just to find out that some ads can be disabled


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## migles (Mar 7, 2015)

raulpica said:


> I've checked at least 30 times, and otherwise a program like "Pimp my uTorrent" wouldn't have been created. You can't.
> 
> http://schizoduckie.github.io/PimpMyuTorrent/
> 
> ...


 
when they decided to put that crap of ads, i was still to lazy to move it and thought "at least they got option to disable it somewhere..." but it was pretty hidden... still, usually you simply can't disable the ads... skype being a good example, full of ads except if you have some credit on the skype wallet... i have 7 cents on it, as long as i have that cents there are no ads...

but it's time for change.. going to choose qBittorrent either that or the transmition windows port. i love transmition on ubuntu...


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 7, 2015)

well it's the only program that i can get high download speeds from and i've tried many others. and just don't upgrade past 3.4.2 and disable auto updates in check for updates


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## raulpica (Mar 7, 2015)

Bladexdsl said:


> well it's the only program that i can get high download speeds from. and just don't upgrade past 3.4.2 and disable auto updates in check for updates


I've read around that qBittorrent is the fastest of the bunch. Have you tried that one?


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 7, 2015)

no that one looks interesting nice GUI too.


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## Vanth88 (Mar 7, 2015)

I seen this crap posted all over facebook and while I don't doubt its possible the main problem here is that the majority of people don't bother to actually read what it is they're installing. 

I also highly recommend qTorrent. It's the only program that came close to uTorrent without actually being uTorrent. It has the same list of features and as far as I can tell it's also faster (the program itself, torrent speeds were never an issue to me).

*edit* Also while I don't think the OP mentions this the same malware found in uTorrent is also found in BitTorent as it's the same exact program but with a different name.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Mar 7, 2015)

TeamScriptKiddies said:


> Utorrents been junk for the past couple years now. Bundled with all kinds of adware/spyware/crapware etc. Why anybody still uses it is beyond me. I moved on from utorrent when all this crap started happening.


The last decent one was 2.0.4 and since then uTorrent has been losing more and more users due to the unnecessary bs they add.

People just want a torrent app to download and seed, that's it!



LittleFlame said:


> good thing i've always used Vuze


 
I tried Vuze and then found out that it's heavy as shit whereas uTorrent 2.0.4 was super light-weight and did exactly as it was meant to.

Screw Vuze and uTorrent, qBittorrent is my pick.


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## TwoBladedKnight (Mar 7, 2015)

And this is why I haven't updated since 2.2, and will forever install it instead of newer versions


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## vahnx (Mar 7, 2015)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> If you read the OP, you'd see that nobody actually knows why the install is happening, only that it's happening with uTorrent. It could just be a broken installer, or it could be intentional, but nobody right now knows for sure.


 

I read the OP, but then the company released a statement saying you have to opt-in.


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## smf (Mar 7, 2015)

vahnx said:


> Oh I had know idea Mac's weren't PC's. I better take a computer course.


 
Arguing whether a Mac is a PC is like arguing over whether a Tomato is a fruit or vegetable. A Tomato is both a fruit and a vegetable because the terms aren't mutually exclusive. In court http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden it was decided that the ordinary use of the word rather than the botanical use of the word should be applied for tax purposes.

However if you talk about a PC then people expect you to be talking about an x86 compatible computer that runs Windows. If someone asks you to pick up some fruit from the store then they don't expect you to buy Tomatoes.

Language is all about expectations, if you decide to use words in different ways than others expect then your communication attempts are likely to be degraded (even if you use words in a way that is technically correct).

Whether the use of the word PC in this news report follows the majority expectation is anyone's guess. But only people running MacOS will care and they are in the minority. The majority of Mac owners assume that their operating system protects them from virus and malware anyway, so this is the least of their problems.


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## Flame (Mar 7, 2015)

And this why I dual boot always with Linux distro, must likely Ubuntu.

Not only you get to encrypt your harddrive with out a lot of hassle... You get a wide range of torrent clients which is 10 times better, which is open source and you are able to see what's happening behind the scene...


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Mar 7, 2015)

Bladexdsl said:


> you can disable and block all that crap in the settings it's not hard to do.


No thanks, if they're gonna bundle that crap at all (even optionally, i dont want it period.

I swear by Transmission, cleanest torrent client ive ever used. It also comes bundled with any official distro of Ubuntu and has a built in ip blocker (needs to be configured manually or it doesnt work) but still. I have no idea if Transmission is available for Windows, but i highly recommend it either way. Even if its not available for Windows yoy can just set up Ubuntu as dual boot (or setup a VM) and off you go.....)

Plus the vast majority of viruses are written for Windows anyways (and we know viruses tend to be rampant with file sharing) so your better off doing p2p under linux anyways


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## sj33 (Mar 7, 2015)

FireEmblemGuy said:


> What surprises me isn't just that people are actually using modern uTorrent, it's that people are actually torrenting via their personal computers rather than setting up a secure seedbox for a couple bucks a month. I suppose it's not necessary if you're only downloading completely legal torrents, but it certainly limits security issues.


That's quite elaborate for people who might only torrent something once a week. More serious users might invest in something like this, but most ordinary users have the right to expect their client not to be malicious.

Anyway, I personally use Deluge. Open source, the only way a client like this can be trusted.


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## Foxi4 (Mar 7, 2015)

There ain't no ads in my uTorrent and I pity the fools who click on'em. _;O;_


FireEmblemGuy said:


> What surprises me isn't just that people are actually using modern uTorrent, it's that people are actually torrenting via their personal computers rather than setting up a secure seedbox for a couple bucks a month. I suppose it's not necessary if you're only downloading completely legal torrents, but it certainly limits security issues.


Don't you think that paying for pirating is a bit silly? You might as well buy the software. The whole point of piracy is, y'know, _"not paying"_ for anything.


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## TheNintendoEnthusiast (Mar 7, 2015)

My uTorrent has been extremely buggy lately. It won't open for a very long time. I since deleted it and is using Transmission. I have never used anything other than uTorrent, but I have never seen it this buggy!

Qbittorrent seems to be much faster and pretty good looking, I might switch back to uTorrent if all this adware goes away, until then, I got a new torrent program


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## Arras (Mar 7, 2015)

Foxi4 said:


> There ain't no ads in my uTorrent and I pity the fools who click on'em. _;O;_
> Don't you think that paying for pirating is a bit silly? You might as well buy the software. The whole point of piracy is, y'know, _"not paying"_ for anything.


I mean, sure, you CAN get rid of all the ads in uTorrent and avoid the crapware - but why would you when there's alternatives that look similar, have basically the same functionality and don't require tweaking to remove bullshit?


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## jonthedit (Mar 7, 2015)

Odd. I normally do not pay attention to torrent clients, I do not use them much.
As for BitTorrent- why does no one use that one?


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## WiiUBricker (Mar 7, 2015)

The utorrent logo on the portal is distracting. Someone make this smaller please.


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## sj33 (Mar 7, 2015)

jonthedit said:


> Odd. I normally do not pay attention to torrent clients, I do not use them much.
> As for BitTorrent- why does no one use that one?


Closed source and filled with adware.


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## Amadren (Mar 7, 2015)

A good thing I'm on Linux AND I don't use µTorrent


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## Arras (Mar 7, 2015)

jonthedit said:


> Odd. I normally do not pay attention to torrent clients, I do not use them much.
> As for BitTorrent- why does no one use that one?


At some point, uTorrent did the same things but was faster, smaller and better in just about every way. Nowadays they're owned by the same company and both pretty decent torrent clients behind a wall of crapware, offers and ads.


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## Plstic (Mar 7, 2015)

Haven't used utorrent in years. I use rutorrent on my seedbox.


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## RevPokemon (Mar 7, 2015)

May seem weird but I only use torrents on my tablet or phone


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## Mario92 (Mar 7, 2015)

With these things Open Source > Freeware. 
µTorrent has become this thing that almost every single person using torrents in any form knows, of course it's then viable to just put it full of everything they can to make money while it's still popular. 

I have heard some friends have switched to Tixati, but that's closed source as well. Some have downgraded to 2.X but using old software is always bit risky.
qBittorrent and Transmission have been best similar open source alternatives if someone is looking for one.


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## raynor_ni (Mar 7, 2015)

people still use torrents?


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## Joe88 (Mar 7, 2015)

I think it was just people not paying attention and didnt hit opt out during install


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Mar 7, 2015)

Joe88 said:


> I think it was just people not paying attention and didnt hit opt out during install


 
still, its a scummy move for the authors of uTorrent to include such crap with their software. Simple solution: use an alternative without all the junk in it . Protest


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## Tom Bombadildo (Mar 7, 2015)

Joe88 said:


> I think it was just people not paying attention and didnt hit opt out during install


 
There are a lot of reports claiming the install happens if you have uTorrent set to auto-update, and the miner installs without asking the user.


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## Zerousen (Mar 7, 2015)

Still using uTorrent, though I've always been running an older build, haven't found the need to update, and certain torrenting sites have only earlier builds whitelisted.


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## Hyro-Sama (Mar 7, 2015)

Never experienced this myself. Albeit, I use an older version of uTorrent with little to no issue. Mostly due to certain trackers being picky as hell about the client you use.


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## bluebright (Mar 7, 2015)

So happy I switched to open source deluge ages ago: http://deluge-torrent.org/

uTorrent was becoming evil very slowly...


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## Mario92 (Mar 7, 2015)

raynor_ni said:


> people still use torrents?


 
well, they are usually fastest way to download relatively new stuff. If I download some Linux I always use torrent because of that. 



Joe88 said:


> I think it was just people not paying attention and didnt hit opt out during install


 
I don't remember exactly what I was installing, but some programs installations nowdays have so devilishly evil adware with them it's insane how many differend ways they have managed to make opting out, dirtiest ones require you to press same cancel button which normally completely exits installer! 
This is why I like to install Linux on machines that are mainly used for internet browsing as there's usually none adware with software repository or dedicated .deb installer.


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## Fishaman P (Mar 8, 2015)

I'm still on 2.2.1 because it's lighter, but I never expected them to pull _this_ kind of stunt.
Does anyone know who owns the wallet the miner points to?


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## endoverend (Mar 8, 2015)

Ugh. All of my trackers are forcing me to downgrade to 2.2.1 now...


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## Catastrophic (Mar 8, 2015)

I haven't updated my uTorrent for quite some time, and I'm glad that I didn't. Guess I'll be using Transmission Qt from now on. Still, I'm surprised that a client that was once really good has become this terrible despite being virtually the same.


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## gifi4 (Mar 8, 2015)

To this day, I still haven't had any issues with uTorrent.
My post on another thread is relevant:


> It's not uTorrent, it's YouTorrent


Any and all issues that seem to arise within uTorrent seem to all lead back to the user.


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## Ulieq (Mar 8, 2015)

Dropped utorrent got one of the free no ad ones.  Knew something was up.


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## the_randomizer (Mar 8, 2015)

It's a good thing I almost never use torrents due to my deeply ingrained paranoia/fear that any and all torrents I find are automatically malicious and install Trojans or worms. So, it's just as well I don't download them


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## FireEmblemGuy (Mar 8, 2015)

Foxi4 said:


> Don't you think that paying for pirating is a bit silly? You might as well buy the software. The whole point of piracy is, y'know, _"not paying"_ for anything.


 
Aide from the fact that piracy is sometimes the only choice when looking for something that vanished eons ago, or that paying a couple bucks to download is generally better than paying anywhere from $20 to a few hundred to download, my home internet is part of the university's network, which monitors all torrent traffic and hands out bans/suspensions if it even suspects the content's illegal; the most I've successfully downloaded via torrent locally are a few Arch or Mint isos, and a wallpaper collection. If I want to download illegally, I have a handful of options:

A) do it locally and hope no one notices
B) download from a slow and shitty free file host, chunk-by-chunk
C) hope someone uploads it to MEGA
D) anonymize traffic through a VPN
E) pay $15 a year for a very low-end VPS with a provider that lets me use it as a seedbox

E is the most efficient choice, and also allows me to seed beyond what I'd otherwise be able to.


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 8, 2015)

FireEmblemGuy said:


> Aide from the fact that piracy is sometimes the only choice when looking for something that vanished eons ago, or that paying a couple bucks to download is generally better than paying anywhere from $20 to a few hundred to download, my home internet is part of the university's network, which monitors all torrent traffic and hands out bans/suspensions if it even suspects the content's illegal; the most I've successfully downloaded via torrent locally are a few Arch or Mint isos, and a wallpaper collection. If I want to download illegally, I have a handful of options:
> 
> A) do it locally and hope no one notices
> B) download from a slow and shitty free file host, chunk-by-chunk
> ...


I would imagine a large portion (if not most) people that pirate don't have to worry or just don't care about bans/suspensions/warnings, whether they be from Universities or ISPs. I would also imagine a vast majority of people who use torrents don't care about seedings, since they only want to get free stuff, not give free stuff. Sure, seedboxes may be a good choice for some people, but recommending it for people who may just download the occasional TV torrent is silly, in my opinion.


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## the_randomizer (Mar 8, 2015)

When I do download torrents, I just leech, I never seed because seeding is said to be more risky than downloading the file itself, so, to hell with seeding.


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## Social_Outlaw (Mar 8, 2015)

I haven't updated my uTorrent in so long... thank goodness that I didn't.


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## endoverend (Mar 8, 2015)

the_randomizer said:


> When I do download torrents, I just leech, I never seed because seeding is said to be more risky than downloading the file itself, so, to hell with seeding.


 
Maybe on public trackers. People need to stop downloading crap from pirate bay all the time and get on a real, private, ratio-based site. The benefits are immense.


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 8, 2015)

endoverend said:


> Maybe on public trackers. People need to stop downloading crap from pirate bay all the time and get on a real, private, ratio-based site. The benefits are immense.


For a lot of people like me, whose upload speed is 1/24th their download speed, they wouldn't last long.


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## Queno138 (Mar 8, 2015)

So, in the event of being infected, what is the best Free antivirus?

I'm using AVG (with the ads removed), and it appears that is cannot detect it
(https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...dce7e476a97fa80d318bbd3090746d429f7/analysis/)

Though a later update from the original source in our post shows that it is no longer detected..
(https://www.virustotal.com/en/anali...e51cd3442a0b30482f04355d144e4898656/analysis/)


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## endoverend (Mar 8, 2015)

Pedeadstrian said:


> For a lot of people like me, whose upload speed is 1/24th their download speed, they wouldn't last long.


That's really a major misconception. I have 100mbps download and 4mbps upload. I've never once purchased a seedbox. But I'm an elite on IPTorrents, BroadcasTheNet, and What.cd (which is basically the hardest tracker out there). There are tons of freeleech torrents (download doesn't count but upload does) and it's really not too hard to upload your own stuff and maybe fill some requests. It's not hard to get invited if you follow the proper channels and study for interviews. People just aren't willing to put forth the effort to increase their security and the quality and speed of the torrents they download.


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 8, 2015)

Queno138 said:


> So, in the event of being infected, what is the best Free antivirus?
> 
> I'm using AVG (with the ads removed), and it appears that is cannot detect it
> (https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...dce7e476a97fa80d318bbd3090746d429f7/analysis/)
> ...


The best free antivirus is common sense. Don't click on ads, and pay attention to what you're installing. Also, this particular "virus" shows up as a regular program, so just go to your program list and uninstall.


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## gifi4 (Mar 8, 2015)

Pedeadstrian said:


> The best free antivirus is common sense. Don't click on ads, and pay attention to what you're installing. Also, this particular "virus" shows up as a regular program, so just go to your program list and uninstall.


http://www.howtogeek.com/211363/how-to-remove-utorrents-epicscale-crapware-from-your-computer/


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 8, 2015)

gifi4 said:


> http://www.howtogeek.com/211363/how-to-remove-utorrents-epicscale-crapware-from-your-computer/


Ah. I only scrolled down enough to see it show up in Programs & Features then closed the link. Revo Uninstaller would probably work well with it.


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## the_randomizer (Mar 8, 2015)

endoverend said:


> Maybe on public trackers. People need to stop downloading crap from pirate bay all the time and get on a real, private, ratio-based site. The benefits are immense.


 

Because everyone who wants to use those has the means or money to join those private trackers. Got it.


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## endoverend (Mar 8, 2015)

the_randomizer said:


> Because everyone who wants to use those has the means or money to join those private trackers. Got it.


 
As I mentioned earlier, people grossly overestimate the requirements of staying on those trackers. Just read my previous post.


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## GHANMI (Mar 8, 2015)

I hated uTorrent before it was cool

#hipster_lifestyle


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## the_randomizer (Mar 8, 2015)

endoverend said:


> As I mentioned earlier, people grossly overestimate the requirements of staying on those trackers. Just read my previous post.


 

Sounds like a pain in the ass, given the requirements stated in your previous post, and also for the record, I refuse to upload my own material or seed anything, just saying.


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## endoverend (Mar 8, 2015)

the_randomizer said:


> Sounds like a pain in the ass, and also for the record, I refuse to upload my own material or seed anything, just saying.


 
Well good for you.


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## the_randomizer (Mar 8, 2015)

endoverend said:


> Well good for you.


 

Whatever you say. Just saying it doesn't sound like it's worth it.


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 8, 2015)

i tried qBittorrent today...utorrent is history


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## Loke (Mar 8, 2015)

Why update 2.2.1 anyway?


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## 2Hack (Mar 8, 2015)

Loke said:


> Why update 2.2.1 anyway?


Security issues since it's an old revision.


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## Loke (Mar 8, 2015)

2Hack said:


> Security issues since it's an old revision.


 
what security issues?


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## DinohScene (Mar 8, 2015)

Welp, piracy does pay... people.

I guess I can say yay for Usenet?


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## Arras (Mar 8, 2015)

the_randomizer said:


> Sounds like a pain in the ass, given the requirements stated in your previous post, and also for the record, I refuse to upload my own material or seed anything, just saying.


It's literally impossible to use torrents without seeding AFAIK. You'll always upload a little bit, even while downloading.


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## the_randomizer (Mar 8, 2015)

Arras said:


> It's literally impossible to use torrents without seeding AFAIK. You'll always upload a little bit, even while downloading.


 

Right, but I can avoid doing as much as possible, i.e esp when it stops downloading, I stop the seeding as soon as I can.


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## samethernet (Mar 8, 2015)

Does anyone know if the Mac version is infected by this or is it just a PC thing.


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## Haloman800 (Mar 8, 2015)

Switched from uTorrent to qBittorrent over a year ago, never looked back. qBittorrent is faster, cleaner, easy to use.


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 9, 2015)

the_randomizer said:


> i.e esp when it stops downloading, I stop the seeding as soon as I can.


 
but that's what everyone does


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## the_randomizer (Mar 9, 2015)

Bladexdsl said:


> but that's what everyone does


 

Indeed, but some love seeding which opens up for more trouble IMHO


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 9, 2015)

Bladexdsl said:


> but that's what everyone does


I'm probably in the minority, but I try to get a ratio of 1 before I remove the torrent. You know, pay it forward and whatnot. Unfortunately, when it comes to having a bunch of torrents and/or torrents with large file sizes, it can be pretty difficult to get that ratio to 1 with a max upload speed of 125 KB/s.


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## Dax_Fame (Mar 9, 2015)

micro lost it's soul a long time ago... transmission is the way to go


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 9, 2015)

Dax_Fame said:


> micro lost it's soul a long time ago... transmission is the way to go


Microtorrent, eh? I always thought of it as Mutorrent.


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## 2Hack (Mar 9, 2015)

Pedeadstrian said:


> I'm probably in the minority, but I try to get a ratio of 1 before I remove the torrent. You know, pay it forward and whatnot. Unfortunately, when it comes to having a bunch of torrents and/or torrents with large file sizes, it can be pretty difficult to get that ratio to 1 with a max upload speed of 125 KB/s.


Yep, though I have such a horrible upload rate that I can't seed so fast. Usually sticks around 15kb/s MAX. But I do keep it up, especially for those old ones that don't have much seeders. I never get to 1:1. Like ever. 
Also my vpn kinda nerfs speeds as well but whatever.  

I like to do my part. I don't even torrent often anyways.


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## Bladexdsl (Mar 9, 2015)

Pedeadstrian said:


> I'm probably in the minority, but I try to get a ratio of 1 before I remove the torrent. You know, pay it forward and whatnot. Unfortunately, when it comes to having a bunch of torrents and/or torrents with large file sizes, it can be pretty difficult to get that ratio to 1 with a max upload speed of 125 KB/s.


i doubt people would want me to seed anyway with my shitty 12/24 connection


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## FearItSelf23 (Mar 9, 2015)

Anyone who uses utorrent in 2015 is silly. Get a lightweight libtorrent option like deluge or stop torrenting.


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## Sakitoshi (Mar 9, 2015)

That why you use Transmission, there is no excuse not to use it since comes with almost every Linux distro and has been available for Windows(as Transmission-qt) and Mac from a long time now.


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## Walker D (Mar 9, 2015)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> Don't know what's worse: People who use an outdated version and insecure or the latest version of uTorrent. They're both rotten.


 
What do you mean with insecure?
It's not a antivirus that we are talking about... ..if it downloads torrents well and is not full of bloatware, then it does all it should. No need to fix what is not broken, and v2.1.1 afaik is not.


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## nl255 (Mar 9, 2015)

Walker D said:


> What do you mean with insecure?
> It's not a antivirus that we are talking about... ..if it downloads torrents well and is not full of bloatware, then it does all it should. No need to fix what is not broken, and v2.1.1 afaik is not.


 
Most likely it is vulnerable to buffer overruns and other exploits making it possible to infect anyone running it simply by sending specially crafted packets and such.  You know, kind of like how Twilight Hack works and many of the PSP hacks (before they figured out the signing keys) as well?


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## Walker D (Mar 9, 2015)

nl255 said:


> Most likely it is vulnerable to buffer overruns and other exploits


um.. interesting.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment on that though. Don't know how much likely it is for those possible vulnerabilities to be triggered on older utorrent versions


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## FAST6191 (Mar 9, 2015)

I do occasionally glance at changelogs of the torrent clients but tprrents past about 2008 is not really my thing as torrents are too annoying and insecure for me to bother to use.

Most of the security issues I see are more anonymity issues; I recall one where a side effect of a protocol might have bypassed a proxy/vpn, more commonly it is things like slightly revised protocols (the original protocol was fairly plaintext, a later revision encrypted the headers to dodge certain types of torrent detection/deep packet inspection (DPI) and today is a bit different again. Old clients may also lack functionality desired by new trackers, features expanded for use with new trackers (trackless/p2p tracker, magnet links and such are all considerably newer than the torrent protocol) and some of the niceties introduced in new clients as far as file management and such.

So yeah you may make the life of the tracker runners harder in some cases, including possibly forcing people to use old protocols to talk to you or you getting booted out of a swarm in the cases of a harsh private tracker, however it is not like running an old web browser or something.


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## Jwiz33 (Mar 9, 2015)

When I saw this I panicked xD just uninstalled it. I have the uTorrent app on my tablet now instead of PC


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## matpower (Mar 10, 2015)

Jwiz33 said:


> When I saw this I panicked xD just uninstalled it. I have the uTorrent app on my tablet now instead of PC


I would install both qBittorrent in your computer and laptop if I were you, Deluge and Transmission-qt also works fine for desktop (and Deluge got a daemon system so you can run it headless and check via your device)


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## Dax_Fame (Mar 10, 2015)

Pedeadstrian said:


> Microtorrent, eh? I always thought of it as Mutorrent.


Well I've never heard it called mu torrent haha but I guess it's always written out with the letter mu either is correct.

Doesn't micro torrent have a better ring to it though? Maybe I'm just use to it


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## matpower (Mar 10, 2015)

Dax_Fame said:


> Well I've never heard it called mu torrent haha but I guess it's always written out with the letter mu either is correct.
> 
> Doesn't micro torrent have a better ring to it though? Maybe I'm just use to it


I always called it "You"Torrent, but I guess microTorrent makes sense, since it was a lightweight client back in the day comparated to BitTorrent.


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## Walker D (Mar 10, 2015)

matpower said:


> I always called it "You"Torrent, but I guess microTorrent makes sense, since it was a lightweight client back in the day comparated to BitTorrent.


I can't change anymore! I'll call it "You"Torrent till the day I die 

I even knew that it meant to be microTorrent, but seemed easier to keep considering it as a "u" for some reason.


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## Pleng (Mar 10, 2015)

endoverend said:


> That's really a major misconception. I have 100mbps download and 4mbps upload. I've never once purchased a seedbox. But I'm an elite on IPTorrents, BroadcasTheNet, and What.cd (which is basically the hardest tracker out there). There are tons of freeleech torrents (download doesn't count but upload does) and it's really not too hard to upload your own stuff and maybe fill some requests. It's not hard to get invited if you follow the proper channels and study for interviews. People just aren't willing to put forth the effort to increase their security and the quality and speed of the torrents they download.


 
That sounds like an awful lot of effort...


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## Thesolcity (Mar 10, 2015)

+1 Tixati 

Shame most private trackers ban it.


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## endoverend (Mar 10, 2015)

Pleng said:


> That sounds like an awful lot of effort...


 
Wow, some work for massive improvements in every way? No way!


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## Dax_Fame (Mar 10, 2015)

Walker D said:


> I can't change anymore! I'll call it "You"Torrent till the day I die
> 
> I even knew that it meant to be microTorrent, but seemed easier to keep considering it as a "u" for some reason.


This I have heard!


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## Retr0Capez (Mar 10, 2015)

>implying people still use UTorrent


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## matpower (Mar 11, 2015)

Retr0Capez said:


> >implying people still use UTorrent


 
Actually, a lot of people use it, heck, some non-techy people think that it is the only way to download torrents.


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## Dax_Fame (Mar 11, 2015)

Whyyyyy do people green text here??? This is not chan... also, breaking rules 1 & 2


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## Loke (Mar 11, 2015)

It's not like every private tracker recommends using utorrent 2.2.1....


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## Pluupy (Mar 11, 2015)

Currently using uTorrent 3.1. Safe? This is the build before the ads and magnet torrents came about. I still use it because the installer is lying in my archive and i hate downloading stuff in terms of these programs. (Using old winamp too)


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## Vipera (Mar 11, 2015)

Dax_Fame said:


> Whyyyyy do people green text here??? This is not chan... also, breaking rules 1 & 2


 
Because le 4chan maymay is funny xDDD

uTorrent got shit the moment they decided to treat it as ad bucket.


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## Walker D (Mar 11, 2015)

Pluupy said:


> uTorrent 3.1, this is the build before the ads and magnet torrents came about


wut? ...but I use 2.1.1 and it already supports magnet links 

actually....



> Via *µTorrent *WIKI page:
> 
> *Magnet Link (URI) Support*
> 
> Support for Magnet Links (URIs) was added in _*version 1.8*_, released on August 9, 2008.[20] Magnet Links were designed as an alternative to traditional tracker torrent files and became popularized when sites such as The Pirate Bay included native support for the format.


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## Pluupy (Mar 11, 2015)

Walker D said:


> wut? ...but I use 2.1.1 and it already supports magnet links
> 
> actually....


I was on my cell posting at the time and guessed which version I was using.

On my desktop now and I'm surprisingly using 1.8.1!

(which actually doesn't support magnet links and it's a real bother)

Huh.


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## Dax_Fame (Mar 11, 2015)

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I know when it turned into a Bittorrent client clone (with green accents instead of purple) is when the ads came in and it turned into complete crap.. Did Bittorrent buy them out or something??? I haven't checked it out in a long time, but even the web pages had the exact same design, just the colors and names were different


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## matpower (Mar 12, 2015)

Dax_Fame said:


> I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I know when it turned into a Bittorrent client clone (with green accents instead of purple) is when the ads came in and it turned into complete crap.. Did Bittorrent buy them out or something??? I haven't checked it out in a long time, but even the web pages had the exact same design, just the colors and names were different


 
Yes, BitTorrent bought them on December 7, 2006, after that, BitTorrent 6.0 was released, it was a reskin version of uTorrent. Being a reskin version of uTorrent, it also became closed-source, unlike BitTorrent 5.0 and earlier.


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## Dax_Fame (Mar 12, 2015)

matpower said:


> Yes, BitTorrent bought them on December 7, 2006, after that, BitTorrent 6.0 was released, it was a reskin version of uTorrent. Being a reskin version of uTorrent, it also became closed-source, unlike BitTorrent 5.0 and earlier.


Sad sad day ... I stopped using it immediately when that happened

Now what have we got? Mining malware... tsktsk


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## WiiCube_2013 (Mar 12, 2015)

Now that I recall, my sister had her Lenovo laptop infected with adware and she had uTorrent installed so all that crap was thanks to uTorrent. After cleaning and removing it the laptop got all better.


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 13, 2015)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> Now that I recall, my sister had her Lenovo laptop infected with adware and she had uTorrent installed so all that crap was thanks to uTorrent. After cleaning and removing it the laptop got all better.


It's not uTorrent's fault your sister installed stuff without paying attention. And, since she doesn't pay attention to installs, it's quite likely she got adware from other places as well.


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## Tattorack (Mar 13, 2015)

Yes, I saw this.
Only, I had the option _not_ to install it during the installation process of uTorrent.



vahnx said:


> I wish that was the case but I encountered a virus on a mac a few months ago. The user installed a "codec pack" to watch a fake movie download. Suddenly fake OS pop-ups and browser hijackings galore.


 
That... isn't considered as a virus.
Thats simply adware, and *every* system suffers from that.


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## LoyalZero1 (Mar 15, 2015)

No U torrent, no problem. Vuze installed, problem solved.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Mar 15, 2015)

endoverend said:


> Ugh. All of my trackers are forcing me to downgrade to 2.2.1 now...


Or upgrade to a torrent program that's actually good.

http://www.qbittorrent.org/ is like uTorrent used to be; Simple, clean and straightforward with no add-on bs.


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## endoverend (Mar 15, 2015)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> Or upgrade to a torrent program that's actually good.
> 
> http://www.qbittorrent.org/ is like uTorrent used to be; Simple, clean and straightforward with no add-on bs.


 
It's hard to get used to the new UI, I mean I've used uTorrent for some 5 years now...
Version 3.2.2 is actually OK, it's endorsed by most trackers and is cleaner than the new uTorrent with no phishing scams.


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## Xabring (Mar 20, 2015)

For some reason, qbittorrent doesn't let me share torrents I finish to download, but I guess it's better than utorrent simply because there's 0 addware.


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