Torrenting has become a popular activity, so there is a good chance that you have done it before. As a result of this increase in torrenting, more and more people are being monitored by spy agencies. If they catch you torrenting copyrighted material you can be fined or jailed for it. The most important thing to do if you plan on torrenting is to keep your activity anonymous. This way, you will protect yourself and not land in any legal trouble. The following are some simple steps you can take to ensure that you do not get caught torrenting.
Hide From Your ISP
Your internet service provider can see what material you are downloading when the file was created, shared, or modified and how much data has been transferred. This is because your ISP keeps logs of all of your online activity and downloads. If your ISP happens to find that you are downloading copyrighted material, they will send a warning to the owner of the Internet account. There are ways to hide from your ISP. Here’s how:
Use A VPN
A Virtual Private Network or VPN will allow you to connect your computer directly to the router. This way, all activity between your computer and the router will be encrypted by their proxy server. If this connection is secure then there is no way for anyone to intercept it unless they have physical access to your machine. Simply download a VPN client, connect to the Internet, and then you are now connected to the Internet with a secure connection. It’s as simple as that.
Use SSL
SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is another form of encryption that will keep your internet traffic hidden from ISP programs like packet sniffers. When you use SSL, it encrypts your Internet traffic and also makes it look like normal, everyday web traffic. Also, SSL is one of the first methods used on a public network to keep your data safe from eavesdroppers. This feature should be available with all browsers and is very easy to use.
Use A Seedbox
In the past, when you wanted to download a torrent seed from a torrent site you had to leave your computer on. This is because in order for the file sharer to give you the chance to download their file they have to upload it first so that other people can participate in sharing. Seedboxes do this for you and allow you to download files much faster. All activity is hidden from your ISP and other spy agencies because the seedbox downloads the material for you in an encrypted format. Also, when you use a seedbox, there is no upload traffic generated by your computer which means there is no chance of you getting caught for uploading copyrighted material.
Hide Torrenting on Your Computer
If you try to hide activity from your ISP and other spy agencies, there is a good chance that they might look at your computer. If this happens, they will easily see what material you are downloading by watching the download speed of the torrents. If it’s slow then it means that the file has not finished downloading. If it’s fast then it means that the file is fully downloaded and ready to play. To prevent them from seeing this you must hide your torrenting activity on your computer. Here’s how:
Use A Proxy Server
Using a proxy server will allow you to hide all of the torrenting activity on your computer. The way this works is that it allows you to change your IP address so that all of your activity appears to be coming from another location, usually the proxy server’s location. Anyone monitoring will see their IP address instead of yours and if they do not have access to the proxy then it will be impossible for them to figure out what you are doing.
Use A Dedicated Torrenting Computer
This will require that you purchase a computer solely for the purpose of torrenting. This is one of the best ways to keep people from seeing what material you are downloading. What makes it even better is that if you have the money to spare then you can just get a new computer every year or so. This way there is no lasting evidence of what material you are downloading and your ISP cannot find any traces of torrenting activity on your computer.
Remove Any Evidence Of Torrenting From Your Hard Drive
This may be somewhat overwhelming for some people but it is the best way to make sure that your ISP can’t find any trace of what material you are downloading. To do this go to the start menu, create a new folder, and name it whatever you want. Delete anything on your computer that may be related to torrenting like .torrent files or software programs for torrents. You can even delete your Bittorrent program or any other torrent-related programs if you want because this will make it harder for ISP to see what material you are downloading.
Use A High-End Router To Hide All Torrent Traffic
All router companies know how much bandwidth is used by people who use torrents so they have developed ways to hide all torrent activity. Using a high-end router like the Netgear Nighthawk X6 will allow you to hide all torrent traffic and also protect your network from surges of electricity and other devices that may generate more internet traffic than they should.
Use A Bus-Powered USB Hub To Hide All Torrent Traffic
If you want to hide your torrent traffic without involving any other complicated procedures, you can use a bus-powered USB hub. This way the only power source for your computer comes from your computer and not an electrical outlet. You should keep in mind that this will reduce bandwidth by about 30% so it is not as good at hiding activity as some of the other ways.
Torrenting is a very popular practice but it is risky if you don’t take the proper precautions. Using a seedbox, proxy server or dedicated computer will ensure that your ISP cannot see what material you are downloading. If they can’t see what you are doing then they have no reason to throttle your internet speed, send you warning messages, or close your account. So, if you don’t want your activity to be tracked by anyone like the government or other agencies, make sure that you use a VPN while torrenting and the other strategies mentioned in this article.
