Windows 10 antivirus warns of “severe” threat

Dec 9, 2019 05:56 GMT  ·  By

uTorrent continues to be one of the most popular BitTorrent clients out there despite the questionable changes implemented over time, but more recently, users have encountered a warning that could push them to alternative apps.

A series of antivirus apps, including Microsoft’s very own Windows Defender, flagged uTorrent as a threat, signaling what many believed it was a virus.

While specifics aren’t available right now, the warning is most likely the result of the adware bundled into uTorrent, which shouldn’t normally harm your device, but which users should still treat carefully when installing apps on their devices.

No official statement on the problem

Windows Defender labels the uTorrent threat with a “severe” rating, marking it as a “Potentially Unwanted Apps.”

Other antivirus apps that consider uTorrent harmful are Antiy-AVL, Comodo, Cylance, DrWeb, ESET NOD32, Gdata, Sangfor Engine Zero, and Sophos Antivirus. Top names like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and Symantec do not flag uTorrent as dangerous.

As TorrentFreak notes, other clients are affected as well, including the BitTorrent Mainline app, as well as uTorrent web. In all cases, there’s a chance the culprit for the warning is the adware, albeit a confirmation doesn’t exist at this point and you should think twice before deciding whether to ignore the warning or not.

Posts on the uTorrent forums, like this one, indicate that the issue happens with all versions of uTorrent starting with 3.4.9 and newer, so even downloads of the client itself are blocked, as the thread starter explains.

An official statement from the parent company doesn’t exist just yet, so it’s up to users to decide what to do next. This isn’t the first time such issues hit uTorrent, but without the app owner saying anything about what happens, it’s hard to advise anyone to ignore the antivirus warning and continue using uTorrent without any concerns.