Bittorrent users were recently up in arms over news that the popular µTorrent client was quietly installing additional software onto their systems. That being said, the software was not even close to being quiet as it uses CPU cycles even if the computer is idle; a situation that lead many users to accuse it of being a secret cryptocurrency miner.
Epic Scale is a tool that mines cryptocurrency, in this case Litecoin, and donates the proceeds to charity. This, in theory, is a good idea for a good cause. However, Epic Scale has been tagging along on a recent µTorrent update and has been installing itself on unsuspecting computers.
µTorrent has been known to include bundled applications, like the infamous Ask.com toolbar that feels more like malware than anything else, because of this, the inclusion of Epic Scale is not surprising. What is surprising is that the software was installed without user approval, as is the usual case for the Bittorrent client. In most cases, people who end up with the crapware bundled with µTorrent installed only have themselves to blame for not reading the installation wizard more carefully.
Epic Scale’s reaction to the issue appears to indicate that there was no malice behind the incident, and the problem has more to do with a problem with the update process. This is backed up by the fact that the opt-out screen does appear for some users.
BitTorrent Inc, owner of µTorrent, has come out to say that it has not included any silent installs with the client. It also says that there is no issue with the update process and that any issues experiences must have something to do with the user clicking through the update without reading any of the popups.
[Source: TorrentFreak]
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