Blocking some torrent trackers

[nei1]

 

Dear MWB (MalWareBytes),

Howdy.

Due to lots of MWB pop-up warnings while using qBittorrent, I did a little reading and found that MWB is blocking some IP addresses that are used for torrent tracking. Attached image is an example.  MWB makes it easy to exclude these IP addresses so my torrent manager can continue doing its thing.

On a tangent: it's sharing, not stealing.

The pop-up warnings state that all the "blocked" connections are "Outbound."  Creating exclusions allows those necessary Outbound connections to go through for my torrents.  But if I understand correctly, it also opens the door to Inbound connections from those questionable IP addresses, which is relinquishing more control than is necessary.

My concern is that by creating "exclusions" for these IP addresses, my computer is left prone if one of those IP addresses want to do something bad to my computer besides the innocuous torrent-tracking.

My suggestion:

Therefore, I suggest being able to set Malwarebytes to "exclude" Outbound and Inbound connections independently.  Perhaps when the user creates the exclusion, there could be a choice immediately whether to exclude both or one or the other.

Certainly, that would add a little more complexity to Malwarebytes, which is never a good thing.  And if there's no other situation that could benefit from separating the Inbound from the Outbound, then it would be difficult to justify adding the option.  But it was an idea, so I thought I'd pass it on before it died of loneliness.

Thanks,

nei1

[nei1]

Looks like I've made 15 exclusions on my torrent manager's behalf, so far.

[Porthos]

5 hours ago, nei1 said:

On a tangent: it's sharing, not stealing.

That is another discussion but you can exclude your torrent only from the web blocking.

 

[exile360]

Malwarebytes doesn't block torrent trackers deliberately.  If your Bittorrent client is connecting to blocked IP addresses it is likely that they are IPs which are being shared by other sites that happen to contain malicious content and therefore are blocked by Malwarebytes (many sites can use the same IP address/server even though they reside on separate domains/URLs).  This is why it is quite common to see peer-to-peer applications like Skype and Bittorrent clients attempting to connect to IP addresses that may be blocked by Malwarebytes.  Excluding your Bittorrent client's main executable using the method described above by Porthos should resolve the issue while still blocking all malicious sites for your web browsers and other at-risk programs for your system.  Once you have excluded it be sure to delete the exclusions you created for those individual trackers/IP addresses.

[nei1]

Ah-hA!  Exclude the application!

That will be fine.  And then I'll get rid of the exclusions.

Anti-virus is running.

Wow: 7,368 posts.  23,014 posts.  Y'all are the center of civilization.

Thanks,

-nei1-

[exile360]

Hehe, I'm glad we were able to help.

If there's anything else we might assist you with just let us know  

[3clipse]

This solution whilst fine does not appear to be able to be done in MWB 4.2.0 Premium which has a completely different (and ironically worse) interface and options. Is there an equivalent?

[Porthos]

31 minutes ago, 3clipse said:

This solution whilst fine does not appear to be able to be done in MWB 4.2.0 Premium which has a completely different (and ironically worse) interface and options. Is there an equivalent?

Exclude an Application that Connects to the Internet in the allow list.

Edited August 28, 2020 by Porthos

[3clipse]

Thank you...

[Porthos]

1 hour ago, 3clipse said:

Thank you...

Your welcome.

Just to add fr others reading.

File sharing involves using technology that allows internet users to share files that are housed on their individual computers. Peer-to-peer (P2P) applications, such as those used to share music files, are some of the most common forms of file-sharing technology. However, P2P applications introduce security risks that may put your information or your computer in jeopardy.  Risks of File-Sharing Technology

 

As for why Malwarebytes blocks Torrent based software, this is because Torrent based software, are what are known as Peer-to-Peer (P2P) applications meaning it connects to many different servers/IP addresses (this is how files are downloaded through Torrent based software) and because of this, sometimes Torrent based software will connect to a server that is also known for hosting malicious content.  This is because servers/IP addresses are often shared by multiple sites, so while what you are downloading through Torrent based software may be perfectly safe, some of the sites hosted on some of the IP addresses that Torrent based software connects to may be malicious.  Such connections are not a threat however, and you may exclude Torrent based software from the Web Protection component in Malwarebytes to stop the blocks from happening without compromising your protection (your web browser and other critical web facing programs will still be fully protected from malicious websites and other malicious content).  To do so, add your Torrent based software.exe to your exclusions using the method described under the Exclude an Application that Connects to the Internet section of this support article.

Edited August 28, 2020 by Porthos