Request: how-to guide for PC security

[anon7678104]

@102

Questions on torrenting:

• What is your procedure for downloading torrents? do you use a VM to check the torrent, or put it directly on your PC?
• How do you circumvent your ISP when torrenting?
• What steps do you take to avoid downloading malware or viruses?
• To have anonymity, is it best to use a VPN when torrenting or are there other options?
• Do you use Tor to get on torrenting websites, or is there a good verity of sites to use without Tor?
• When searching through torrents to download, what are some red flags to look out for?

i go to the site and if it offers a torrent link for download. click its magnet link and import it straight into utorrent.

i dont have to. my isp allows torrenting and anything else i wish to do with my internet connection.
they for there part block malware sites and dns block torrent sites such as the pirate bay.
but other than that, they do not interfere with my downloads at all. even if its a torrent im downloading.
they block the site, but not the act of torrenting.
(uk based cable provider)

none. if my antivirus catches something then i stop the download thats it.

why use a vpn if your legally torrenting.
there is no anonymity on the web. you can hide but someone will always see your real ip.
sure you can hide behind a vpn. but who’s to say the vpn isnt logging you?.

no tor is an american navy network that claims privacy but offers no such thing.
yes the layer encryption has been improved, so you to me is more secure…
but the American navy still have the key’s to the encryption.
so nothing is private from them.

what red flags to look for… lol…
if your on that kind of site then red flags dont matter to you. you already chose to be there, time to take the risk.

there are a few torrent sites that curate there content to minimise virus impact. after all if they are running a for profit site, they want people to use it. so keeping there pc’s safe is actually a priority.
after all you want as many people as possible paying there monthly and that wont happen if they keep getting viruses.
but mostly you take the risk when you click the link…

@102

Questions on PC security:

• If I am unable to set up my own VPN, what is the next best VPN service to choose?
• What is your antivirus, antispyware, and antimalware set up? Do you use a paid subscription for one piece of software, or do you use a group of different free software each for a specific purpose?
• Do you use any browser plug-in for additional security or to prevent tracking?
• In the past I’ve used the security planner in the link below. If you’re a security expert, what would you add to the planner that CR missed? (phttps://securityplanner.consumerreports.org/)

you can set up a vpn no problem. your isp wont know or care as long as vpn’s are legal in your country.
you just buy the one that works for you.

or you go openvpn and take a risk.
or setup a vps. which is cheaper but less secure.

antivirus… bitdefender or kaspersky for paid. both have outstanding records for protection developed over a decade.
(regardless of what some goverments claim. they only got pissy because kaspersky caught malware that government released)
surprisingly windows defender isnt terrible now either. so pair that with something like malware bytes and your covered for 99% of what the web can throw at you.

browser plugins also often track you… but if you just want adblocks then go ahead.
but if your downloading things like youtube downloader… then your browser will be hijacked sooner or later.

not a security expert so no input.

[risk]

I think ipfs is a technically superior mechanism for distributing Linux packages, because package sizes are fairly small on average and very numerous. It’d be wonderful if distro package managers would interact more closely with an ipfs daemon optionally running on the host serving ipfs content out of the hosts package cache.

Torrents are more geared towards larger files.

[MazeFrame]

@twin_savage

Don’t a bunch of games use the torrent protocol for distributing their updates on the backend?

I think Microsofts “Share updates locally” also does.

[Oroy]

@102

want to clarify that I do not intend on torrenting pirated or copyrighted material.

Sure… but assuming you only torrent all the Linux distro ISOs and ethically sourced animes I can only echo the other posters here recommending a VPN, a trusted source/tracker and services that let you compare signatures for bad stuff. If you are on Linux you could also look into Firejail or bubblewrap, those can be pretty involved but security and privacy is done in layers so every bit helps.
A note on VPNs: Their main benefit besides not giving everybody in a swarm your IP is actually that they thwart spam-“lawyers” by asking for more in-depth technical info for any given accusation and a lot either don’t bother or can’t produce it.