TL;DR
You can’t directly “punish” a torrent miner owner in a legal sense. Your best options are to report them to their hosting provider, the torrent tracker (if any), and potentially law enforcement if you suspect illegal activity beyond just mining. Focus on documenting the issue and providing clear evidence.
How to Report Bad Torrent Miners
- Gather Evidence: Before doing anything, collect proof of the miner. This includes:
- The torrent file (.torrent)
- Screenshots showing the mining activity (CPU/GPU usage while downloading).
- The magnet link or URL you used to download the torrent.
- Any information about the uploader (username, profile link on the tracker).
- Identify the Hosting Provider: Miners are hosted somewhere. Finding this is key.
- Whois Lookup: Use a Whois lookup tool (like who.is) to find information about the domain or IP address associated with the miner’s website (if any). This can reveal the hosting provider.
- Traceroute: A traceroute can help identify the network path and potentially the hosting provider. On Windows, open Command Prompt and type
tracert [miner's domain or IP address]. On macOS/Linux, use
traceroute [miner's domain or IP address].
- Reverse DNS Lookup: Use a reverse DNS lookup tool to find the hostname associated with the miner’s IP address. This might give clues about the hosting provider.
- Report to the Hosting Provider: Most hosting providers have abuse reporting mechanisms.
- Find their abuse or contact page on their website.
- Submit a detailed report including your evidence (from step 1). Explain that the hosted content is distributing malware (the miner) and violating their terms of service.
- Report to the Torrent Tracker: If you downloaded the torrent from a public or private tracker, report the uploader.
- Most trackers have reporting features for malicious uploads.
- Provide your evidence (torrent file, screenshots).
- Private trackers are often more responsive than public ones.
- Consider Reporting to Law Enforcement: This is usually only necessary if the miner contains other illegal content or you suspect serious criminal activity.
- Contact your local cyber security police unit.
- Be prepared to provide all of your evidence.
- Block the Miner’s Domain/IP: Prevent future infections by blocking the miner’s domain or IP address in your firewall or router.
- Most routers have a basic firewall where you can add block rules.
- You can also use host file editing (advanced users only).
Important Considerations
- Terms of Service: Review the terms of service for any trackers or websites involved to understand their policies on malicious content.
- False Reports: Avoid making false reports, as this can have legal consequences.
- Limited Success: There’s no guarantee that your report will result in immediate action. Hosting providers and trackers may take time to investigate.