How A VPN Protects You While Torrenting?

Media companies and governments are cracking down on torrents harder every year. Here’s how using a VPN protects torrenting activities. Torrenting is a form of file sharing that has become increasingly popular over the years. When you use a torrent site, you are downloading files from a central server and other users like yourself. Torrenting has received a bad reputation for copyright infringement and other illegal activities, but the act of file sharing in itself is not illegal in the United States.

However, if you torrent, you should know that there are dangers. Enormous companies often sue users for copyright infringement. This has even happened to innocent torrent users as a result of mistaken identity. You might also stumble across a virus or two on a torrent, though downloading from multiple users makes this less likely.

A VPN protects torrenting in several ways. If you are sharing data across a torrent network for any reason, you need all the protection you can get from lawsuits, viruses, and hackers alike.

Copyright Lawsuits

Most importantly, a VPN protects torrenting users from abusive lawsuits. Many people torrent to trade music and movies, which could be a violation of copyright holders’ property. Some of those users sue torrenters, and they aren’t always careful about who gets hit. 

Because so many torrent users mask their IP address, copyright lawsuits commonly name huge numbers of potential defendants. If you’re caught up in these sweeps, your IP address winds up listed on a legal form as “John Doe #3,764.” You also get a claim for thousands of dollars.

A good VPN protects torrenting from this kind of abuse by masking your IP address and location. A DNS mask is also good for concealing your identity. While these tools can help infringe on copyrights, it’s also plain common sense to reveal as little about yourself as possible online. Since innocent torrent use could get you swept up in an overly broad subpoena, it’s better to be safe than sued.

Download Speed And Throttling

Speed is an issue for many torrent users. Downloading usually takes longer on torrent streams. This is because you’re downloading little parts of each file from multiple users. Users with fast connections may not be bothered by the lag, but it can get frustrating for others. Worse, some torrent services begin to throttle users’ downloads if they exceed arbitrary data caps.

A VPN protects torrenting speeds by assigning a dynamic IP and devoting a channel just to your traffic.

Frequent IP changes prevent tracking and throttling. The devoted data tunnel between your computer and the VPN protects torrenting also creates a clear channel for data to flow unimpeded.

Virus Protection

Computer viruses are part of the landscape when it comes to file sharing networks. Some viruses are accidentally picked up from infected computers. Malicious users, including angry copyright holders that can’t identify users directly, are responsible for others. 

Other viruses and malware are in the network because hackers want your data and identity. The risk of a virus is somewhat less with torrenting than it is with single-source downloads, but it never goes away.

A VPN protects you from torrenting hackers and viruses in several ways. First, the encryption the VPN uses to secure the data stream frustrates casual man-in-the-middle attacks. Up to date encryption also gets in the way of corporations trying to load malware onto your server. Frequent IP location shifts are another way a VPN protects torrenting users. They make you hard to pin down, either for a hacking attack or for legal summons.

Government Surveillance

Another kind of “hacking” is not common in the United States, but it does happen. As of 2020, many governments have outright banned torrent services from their countries. This is partly due to copyright concerns, but it’s mostly a way for some countries to control the content their citizens can access online.

This might be the most important way a VPN protects torrenting users. A VPN can keep you out of serious trouble with the law by creating a secure tunnel for your data and encrypting everything. A VPN protects torrenting also shifts your apparent location out of the country and cuts your connection if you lose your IP mask.

Conclusion

If you trade files on peer-to-peer networks, you’re at risk from multiple angles. Having a good VPN can save you from hackers, viruses, throttling, and government attention. 

VPN.com is an expert service that can help you find the right VPN that protects torrenting to keep your file sharing safe, reliable, and private. Find a VPN that protects torrenting on VPN.com before your next torrent download.