Is it safe to use tor for downloading torrents

The browser can route all traffic through the Tor network without hassle so you can visit websites without exposing your identity. Since the Tor network works with layers of Socks proxies, in theory it can be used for any application that can connect to a socks proxy, including the majority of torrent clients. However, there are a few reasons why in practice, Tor is not the best solution when it comes to downloading torrents anonymously. The volunteers who run the nodes are contributing to save online freedom, and their time and bandwidth should not be misused by downloading torrents.

In addition, Tor has severe limitations in terms of bandwidth and what is available should be used wisely. Many activists, journalists and bloggers from countries where internet is highly censored, rely on Tor to share their opinions, reveal the truth about oppressive governments and more, without exposing their identity and compromising their safety.

While Tor is not infallible, it offers a platform that is more secure and that can help people from around the world to make their voices heard. Another reason why Tor is not the right choice for torrent users who want to download content anonymously, is that when you use Tor, your torrent client may still expose your real IP address.

Research has showed that it is very easy to find the true IP address of torrent users who rely on Tor. This is because if the torrent client is not properly configured, it is likely that only the connection to the tracker is anonymized, while the peer connections are routed outside Tor. Last but not least, Tor can be very slow, which would be really frustrating if you try to use it for streaming or downloading content. In summary, while Tor is a great tool for anonymity and it can help you to bypass restrictions, it is not the right choice for torrenting.

In order to protect your identity while downloading torrents, it is advisable to opt for a VPN or a Socks5 proxy. The first option provides high encryption to prevent others from seeing what you do on the internet. Proxies offer less security, but it can be faster than a VPN. Alternatively, you can use both and enjoy the best aspects of these technologies.

Before torrents came about, you had to download a file from a single source. What Cohen did was decentralize the download game. Now each computer that possessed a copy of a file could give away its part to the whole network. The latter are called torrent trackers. Each torrent tracker has its library of downloads and is maintained by the user community.

If you have ever downloaded anything or just planning from these sites, check your computer for adware. This app is actually notarized by Apple, and it pretty easily uncovers hidden adware on your Mac. If you use a PC, you may scan your computer for adware with Malwarebytes. BitTorrent is the first and most popular torrent protocol. It counts million users in every country imaginable. This image is for illustration purposes only — downloading cracked versions of apps is illegal!

This is the shortest way of infecting your Mac with malware. One-third of all torrent downloads is pirated content. Back in , Anton Vaulin, the creator of KickAssTorrents site was arrested after numerous copyright infringement claims.

Note that using torrents is perfectly safe if you share only non-copyrighted material. Unless you use VPN your IP-address remains visible and you can easily be tracked by copyright watchdogs. Some countries have draconian laws against torrenting.

For example, in Japan, uploading torrents is punishable with up to 10 years of prison. Seeding means publicly sharing your files within the network. Leeching is way of parasitic behavior and is referred to those users who remove their downloads from public sharing. Some users prefer to use torrents only one-way as a means of getting content. On the flip side, most torrent tracker sites give you privileges for acting in a pro-community way. Using torrents is banned in most companies, and copyright infringement is not the only reason for that.

When you use torrents, your computer is in active back-and-forth with the P2P network. This takes its toll on memory and available disk space.

Obviously, your internet speed also goes down. But here is good news: most torrent clients have a pause button so you can stop and resume torrenting at any time. Tor Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for researchers, developers, and users of Tor.

It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. So basically what I'm asking is: will downloading files ie. I ask because I visited some forums selling a answer to this very question and some people are saying that it is NOT safe to download files of any kind though TOR. I don't believe they only mean that the file s will "call home".

It seems to me that they are saying that simply downloading files via TOR can compromise your anonymity even if the file doesn't "call home". Can anyone confirm or deny this? Thanks in advance! However , it is almost never safe to open them outside of Tor Browser or a special environment. Even non-executable files documents, videos, audio files, etc can be used to ping-back to some server on the internet and since the application opening them isn't going through Tor, you will connect outside of the Tor network.

This is a very old tactic of bugging files sometimes government documents have such tracking in them, provided by a DLP contractor , so that if they are opened they can discover who opened them. So, it is safe to download file over Tor, at least about as safe as downloading them on a shared or public wireless network, for example but it is definitely not safe to open them and it will harm your anonymity.

This presentation from shows a few examples of such techniques, although it is not at all extensive. There are plenty it doesn't cover either. These methods have been successfully used to deanonymize Tor users before, as well as deanonymizing state sponsored hackers targeting journalists.

Using a Qubes Disposable VM, Tails or Whonix to open files after you've downloaded them will help mitigate many of the risks against leaks through normal operation of the file type but not always against exploitation. I'd say in general there is no additional risk compared to regular use. After all, downloading files is what Tor Browser Bundle does all the time. However, if you download something out of the ordinary, say a really big file or a lot of files in a specific pattern, it might be possible to correlate the traffic from the server to the Tor network and the traffic from the network to you.

Or having a dystopian government, monitoring every connection, possibly colluding with like-minded governments.