What are the Dangers of Torrenting Movies?

Three years ago, Billboard published an article titled “Business Matters: How Netflix Reduces Piracy”, which declared that online piracy has significantly dropped since Netflix started streaming movies. The company’s chief content officers was even quoted saying “BitTorrent traffic drops as the Netflix traffic grows” when a service launches in a new territory. And just to remind you, Netflix originally launched their streaming in the US back in 2007.

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However, these claims simply aren’t true. You see, since the company launched its services almost a decade, file-sharing has grown 44% in the United States alone, according to the Global Internet Report. If you’re thinking that situation is about to change in the next couple of years, you’re completely wrong, because Cisco predicts that in the next three years, file-sharing will increase additional 51% in North America. When one looks at those statistics, it’s not hard to conclude – Torrenting is here to stay.

What’s Your Stance on File-Sharing?
So the big question here is – do you Torrent a lot? Maybe just from time to time? Or perhaps never? You shouldn’t feel like those questions are judgmental, after all, a recent study published by the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit discovered that staggering 70% of Internet users find nothing wrong with piracy. So if you fall into that category (and if you clicked on this article, I’m sure you do), or even if you’re completely against piracy, we’re here to talk about some of the dangers of Torrenting movies.

The Actual Dangers of Torrenting

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P2P Can Bring in Viruses
All Torrents run on peer-to-peer exchange systems (in short – P2P). Now, the person who downloads a certain file automatically becomes a leecher and after the files are fully downloaded, he can become a seeder if he chooses to. A seeder is a person who uploads the files, while leechers download it from them. As the number of seeders increases, the download speeds also increase – as a person can download bits of files from different sources.

Naturally, everything has a bad side. The main problem here is – certain seeders include a virus in the main file, and if you start downloading that part from their devices, your PC might get infected. But that’s not all, because there is also a possibility that the creator of the original Torrent already included viruses in the files. Therefore, if you want to keep your device safe from infected files, it would be wise to look at the best rated antivirus software on the Internet, and find the right solution for your OS.

You Can Get Hacked
When you start downloading a Torrent, your IP address can be seen by literally everyone. This means if a hackers finds your IP, and notices that you don’t have any protection (this mainly happens when users turn off their firewalls), he can easily come into your device, and steal all of your data. And this happens more often than you think. As CNNMoney reports, nearly half of adults in the United States have been hacked and had their personal data exposed by cybercriminals, at some point in their lives.

Once a person finds your private IP through the public one, if he possesses enough technical skills, he can get access to all of your notes, photos and every other piece of information you keep on your PC. Some criminals even pay uploaders for this. So if you’re not completely protected, are you willing to risk all of your most personal information for a low-quality video recording?

Malware Risks
After a couple of months, most Torrent users develop a false sense of security toward peer-to-peer networks, which can lead to a download of a crippling malicious file. And this malware can not only affect your computer, but also your entire life. There are certain types of malware that “silently” steal your information, without your knowledge. And, unsurprisingly, malware attacks happen every day. According to Kaspersky Security Network data, there were more than 171 million malware attacks recorded just in the second quarter of 2016.

The fact is, it’s just not that uncommon for a person who had never dreamed of opening an unsafe email attachment to click on a downloaded torrent – even though he knows about as much about the uploader as he does any average email spammer. So even after you download a legal torrent, make sure that you scan the files inside with an antivirus before double-clicking it.

Legal Troubles
Three years ago, the New Scientist reported that basically anyone who has downloaded anything using a BitTorrent client had their IP logged by authorities within 3 hours of doing so. While Torrenting is still somewhat illegal (sharing copyrighted material definitely is) and production companies employ agencies to scour the web in search of violators, legal prosecutions have been sporadic. Nevertheless, you have to be aware that these punishments can be severe. If you get convicted of a misdemeanor in piracy, for example, you could spend a year in prison and pay a fine of up to $100,000.

Stay Aware – Don’t Obsess

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When it’s all said and done, being aware of all of the ways you can be attacked or spied on doesn’t mean that you have to worry about it whole day long. It just means that you should be aware of the dangers and how are you using technology when you’re downloading something from the Internet. Of course, try not to download every movie and album you’re interested in.

It’s understandable that you want to see a foreign film that’s not released in your area or listen to an old, out-of-print album from time to time, you should also keep in mind that too much piracy can kill jobs. For example, according to the WGA (Writers Guild Association), screenwriters’ earnings are down nearly 25% from 2009 and in the last 15 years, the number of full-time songwriters in Nashville has dropped by 80%.

Adam Ferraresi
Web development has always been something Adam was passionate about, and it is from his passion that he’s making his living. Thanks to the vast knowledge of internet trends and its constant changes, Adam often writes popular articles for wefollowtech.com. He’s a born and raised Texan, with his residence in Dallas.