Understanding ISPs' Traffic Control Against Encrypted BitTorrent Tools

The advent of BitTorrent was a cause for celebration for people who wished to share large files very quickly, but Internet Service Providers did not see the technology in quite the same positive light. ISPs soon found that the majority of their bandwidth was taken up with BitTorrent traffic, and some, like Canadian provider Shaw, started throttling the service in response. BitTorrent clients such as Azureus added a feature that encrypted torrent traffic to try and get around these ISP roadblocks.

Now, a company called Allot Communications is claiming that their new hardware product, the NetEnforcer, is the first device that will seek out and throttle encrypted BitTorrent traffic. According to a spokesperson for the company, the NetEnforcer utilizes deep packet inspection technology "to identify and analyze hundreds of applications and protocols, track subscriber behavior, prioritize traffic and shape traffic flows."

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