uTorrent's Newest Update Bundles Mining Software

uTorrent irked some users when it introduced advertisements, but in this ad-filled world many are willing to overlook that. What has proven far less popular is the inclusion of a cryptocurrency miner, which has recently been a source of complaints from users — some of whom are claiming it was installed without their consent. When installed, the mining software uses the computer's resources, putting the processor under a heavy load and bogging down the user's computer. Presently the uTorrent forums are offline.

This miner is called Epic Scale, and TrustedReviews recently brought it to light, pointing toward users posting in uTorrents' (now suspended) forums. The software is bundled with the latest uTorrent update, and is a way for Bittorrent to generate revenue from its software. According to one uTorrent worker, the Epic Scale software was bundled in such a way that it could not be installed without the user's permission.

Users have reported that deleting the Epic Scale folder and attempting to uninstall it the traditional Windows way has not gotten completely rid of it. Bittorrent has denied claims that the software is being installed without user permission, however, saying in a statement to Trusted Reviews:

Like many software companies, we have partner offers in our install path and our policy is that they are strictly optional. We aim to work with partners that would appeal to our tech-forward user base ... In the last 24 hours we have received less than a dozen inquiries out of several million offers. We have reviewed the issue closely and can confirm there is no silent install happening. We are continuing to look at the issue. But this is most likely these users accepted the offer during install.

VIA: The Verge