Bittorrent, insecure? Stablished connections?

[rlchp]

I, i have a doubt about the connections in Bittorrent (utorrent, in this case). When I start Utorrent, i have to open a port for incoming connections and allow the traffic in my firewall. Well, i accept all incoming traffic with utorrent and the port maped.

BUT, here there is a problem, because all computers with bad intentions can penetrate in your PC by the port opened simulating being a bittorrent connection.

A curiosity about that, is the fact that when I start utorrrent, even If iam not sharing anything, there are connections stablished.

Sometimes i see in my outpost, though I have outpost very well configured (i installed outpost many years ago, so i know all about configurations in outpost), connections n/a (not a specific program) with IPs that before starting my utorrent they weren't there, trying to connect constantly with my computer.

SOMETIMES are connected (they are malware like trojans, in the majority of cases). Anyways, i use Windows Vista SP2, so it shouldn't be a common vulnerability.

It isn't a security issue?

How can i protect my computer from this attacks? I am tired of this. They are always using the port opened, in all cases.

Thank you very much, I appreciate your help and support.

[Lord Alderaan]

Not really. Unless there is an exploitable µTorrent vulnerability (always make sure you use the newest µTorrent version) or you are using weird ports opening such a port is perfectly safe.

As to the ghost connection attempts. When you start a torrent you report your IP and port to the tracker, the tracker again hands that out to other peers. When you close µTorrent those peers still have your IP+port and will try to connect. It takes a while (at least hours, usually days) before all other peers realize you are no longer there. These are harmless.

[Switeck]

The ghost connection problem can be MUCH more severe if you had DHT enabled in uTorrent.