Peer-to-peer file sharing, or P2P, has become enormously popular on college campuses across the country because it allows students to easily exchange music and video files over the Internet. Tens of millions of people use P2P applications such as Limewire, eDonkey, and BearShare to fill their MP3 players and hard drives with all the music and movies they want, all for free. But even “free” has a cost.

In addition to violating copyright laws, there are other potential dangers when downloading files via P2P. For instance, hackers know that source files on P2P networks are not being validated, so it’s easy to trick you into downloading a virus or spyware instead of the Justin Beiber video you thought you were getting.

The other major issue is the simple fact that P2P programs share your data with all of the other P2P users in cyberspace. Because of this, there is a good chance you might unknowingly share your most precious and private data with the rest of the world.

During installation, P2P programs scan your hard drive, looking for files to share. If you do not exercise caution, your entire hard drive, including any confidential documents it may contain, could be left wide open for anyone to access.

Think about the files you have on your PC right now. Are you storing documents that have your passwords, Social Security number, or bank account information? If you have P2P software on your PC, you could be targeted for identity theft.

Digging through P2P networks for my own research, I’ve uncovered tax returns, student loan applications, credit reports, and Social Security numbers. I’ve found love letters, private photos, videos, and just about anything else that can be saved as a digital file.

P2P networks have even exposed details on a U.S. Secret Service safe house for the president and his family, and revealed blueprints for President Obama’s private helicopter. While you probably don’t have state secrets stored on your PC, you should still take care to keep your sensitive files safe.

Here are some tips to protect you from accidentally sharing data on a P2P network:

The smartest way to stay safe is not to install P2P software on your computer in the first place.

If you think a family member may have installed P2P software on their computer, check for new, unfamiliar applications. A look at your “All Programs Menu” will show nearly every program on your computer. If you see one you don’t recognize, do an online search to see if it is a P2P application.

Set administrative privileges on your computer to prevent the installation of new software without your knowledge.

Use comprehensive security software such as McAfee® Total Protection and keep it up to date.

Make sure your firewall is enabled, and if an application asks you to change your settings to enable access to the Internet, don’t allow it.

P2P file sharing can be tempting, but in most cases, the costly dangers just aren’t worth it.

With more than 11 million victims just last year identity theft is a serious concern.

Tags: expert, identity, theft

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Comment by Robert Siciliano on September 28, 2010 at 8:03am: Well said Justen, with a couple exceptions that I'm not even going to try to debate. ;)~

Comment by Justen on September 28, 2010 at 7:59am: A few other tips:

Stick to well-known, well-recommended P2P clients. Vuze and uTorrent on Windows are your best bets for torrents (and why you would bother with other networks I really can't comprehend). Create a "sandbox" folder and isolate all your P2P downloads to it - don't use a preexisting folder like Downloads or Documents. Personally I have one folder for Incoming, one folder for Completed, and one folder for Torrent tracker files; a good client will let you configure each folder separately.

Only once I'm done seeding do I move files out of these folders, and I never allow the client access to any other part of my system. I run Linux, so it's a bit easier for me to manage security, but provided you've picked a clean client and configured it properly you can be relatively safe on Windows as well.

NEVER use automatic file discovery, especially on clients that can share single file (really, just don't use anything but bit torrent and you're in good shape). Don't even let your P2P clients online till go through their configuration and make sure they haven't enabled it by default.

If your client/network uses encryption, set it to forced/always on mode. If it uses a peerblocker list - and all the good ones do - enable it and keep it up to date. This will keep you safer from government and media thugs and their professional hackers as well as malware distributors and generally speed up your downloads, so its' a win/win for you.

Contrary to Robert's point, you *will* need to allow your client through your firewall for it to work properly. If you get a request at any time other than right after the first time you start it up, check into it before you let it through. Bittorrent clients are port-agnostic, but they'll tell you what port they're trying to use in their configuration. Same should go for any other P2P network worth its salt (but again, why bother).

I'm not a big fan of McCrappy personally. Get either a solid set of free antivirus - AVG Free, Avast!, & antimalware - Spybot, Ad-Aware - or pay for a good quality solution like NOD32. Full "system security" suites are resource hogs and generally cause more damage than some of the viruses they try to prevent; Norton falls into that category too. Just avoid them and pick out a small set of effective tools. Honestly I haven't used Windows in 3 years so that may not apply - talk to your nearest highly knowledgeable Windows nerd about your options (you *are* in college, make friends with a comp sci guy/gal).

You can be safe, both personally and in terms of computer health, and use P2P. The risk isn't that great as long as you follow some precautions - just like using a power tool, screw around and you can chop your hand off but use it right and the risk is extremely low vs. the reward. I've been filesharing since before Napster turned it into something the computer illiterate could handle and I've never -once- caught a virus, let alone dealt with identity theft. Just be smart, know what your software is doing, and when in doubt about something it wants to do, tell it no and do your homework first (this applies to ALL software, especially on Windows systems).

Comment by Robert Siciliano on September 28, 2010 at 4:55am: Thanks Mme Moxie, I couldn't agree more!

Comment by Mme Moxie on September 28, 2010 at 2:39am: Great blog!!! If, only the people would listen to what is being told to them, they may learn a thing or two. Identity Theft is BIG business and many individuals will be glad to confirm that fact. P2P sharing can be equated to 'leaving your keys in the car, while you go into a store for whatever' and your car is stolen!!! Both of these actions are definitely 'bad choices' for those who do it.

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