I would like to prevent to the best of my ability getting malware or virus when torrenting. I know there is never 100% certainty of not getting one, but i'd like to mitigate it. I'd like to ask your advice/expertise.

These are the practices I use. Please build on them if you think there is room for improvement and how.

First off, I use linux (transmission) and only download media (music, movies), no software. I know this already lowers the risks significantly since most malware are on .exe for Windows, however I am aware mp3/mp4 and mkv files can still embed malware to exploit VLC vulnerabilities and also Linux.
I use Proton VPN with kill switch in advanced settings - no internet (at all) allowed when the VPN is not connected.
I limit opening the downloaded media in the PC. After seeding for a few months, I usually transfer them into an external HDD and delete them from the PC. Media may be used in a TV/phone for viewing/listening.
I have downloaded torrent media going into a separate internal SSD which is encrypted (obviously unencrypted when torrenting). This probably doesn't do much, but I get somewhat piece of mind when I am not torrenting and the ssd is locked.
I use normally pirate bay org and get the torrents with the higher number of seeds.

I understood joining some private tracker may help, but I found it difficult to join. Any advice and recommendations are welcome!

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[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 19 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Don't rely on the VPN kill switch for torrenting. It's not fast enough to prevent your IP from leaking if the VPN disconnects. The torrent client needs to be bound to the VPN interface. Transmission doesn't have an option to do that, so you would have to run it in a container instead.

[–] someonesmall@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 hours ago

Best solution is to use docker. One container is gluetun which provides the VPN connection. The other container runs transmission or qbittorrent and its traffic is routed over gluetun.

[–] melfie@lemy.lol 2 points 15 hours ago

I run my VPN via OpenWRT, with rules setup per device that either routes traffic through the WAN or VPN interface. If the VPN is not working, there’s simply no outbound traffic. It’s more reliable than a kill switch.

[–] reallyzen@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You ~~can~~ must do that in qBittorrent. Also, that has nothing to do with downloading malware, while being a good recommendation if your ISP reports torrenting to the copyright owner (like orange in France)

[–] so0t8@lemmy.org 1 points 1 day ago

Thanks for that feedback. Is that also true when using the advanced kill switch? ProtonVPN with that setting does not allow internet at all if the vpn is not connected. In the case that I must use that container, how would I do this?

[–] mangaskahn@lemmy.waynetec.us 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's probably best to handle that at the firewall, host based, external, or ideally both. The only traffic allowed outbound from the torrent box should be the VPN connection. Then it doesn't matter if routing or interface binding is set up wrong.

[–] so0t8@lemmy.org 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The only traffic allowed outbound from the torrent box should be the VPN connection. Then it doesn’t matter if routing or interface binding is set up wrong

Thanks, how could I do this with ufw?

[–] mangaskahn@lemmy.waynetec.us 1 points 1 day ago

https://yottasrc.com/wiki/article?t=how-to-block-outgoing-traffic-to-private-networks-using-ufw-on-your-server

Stop all incoming and outgoing traffic then allow only the VPN remote port number out to the Internet.

Remember to allow inbound connections from your local network to the management ports if you need them.

Do the same on your network firewall, block all outbound traffic from the torrent box IP address then allow only the remote vpn port out.