Microsoft and several other anti-malware products now classify the popular μTorrent BitTorrent client as malware or so-called Potentially Unwanted Software (PUA). The result is that installation of μTorrent is blocked on many computers.
Microsoft even lists μTorrent in its malware encyclopedia as PUA:Win32/Utorrent, with the description, “this application was stopped from running on your network because it has a poor reputation. This application can also affect the quality of your computing experience.”
On VirusTotal, Google's online multi-engine antivirus scanner, the latest μTorrent version 3.5.3 (build 44396) is listed by ESET, Trend Micro, DrWeb and several other lesser known engines, as adware, unwanted, suspicious and even as trojan.
We also tested version 3.5.3 Beta (build 44366) of μTorrent, the latest available beta version currently available. Also, here some engines detect the torrent download software as malware.
Because Microsoft detects both versions as a Potentially Unwanted Application, Windows 10 users will normally no longer be able to install the software, as Windows Defender blocks such applications. However, would also mean that the millions of current μTorrent are unable to download an upgrade and install it. On our Windows 10 version, we could still install μTorrent, which gives us the impression Microsoft has decided that it would affect too many users.
Also, Microsoft MVP Prajwal Desai reports on his blog that μTorrent installed fine on two of his Windows 10 systems.
