Downloading that new Britney Spears hit from the Net may come at a cost that includes divulging personal bank account information, credit card numbers and even company secrets. Millions of people, following the trend first set by Napster, use file-sharing websites not only to copy and download free music, but also find pictures, video clips, pirated software and documents from millions of others who open their computers to a virtual network.
These so-called peer-to-peer websites allow people to download free files - primarily songs - stored on the computers of millions of other file-sharing users.
Yet many people don't know they can inadvertently open private content - their entire hard drive - to the world if they rush through installation of the software for those services. They could also put their files at risk if they later move the folder that contains that music.
The risks? A home user may unwittingly divulge financial records or personal e-mail. Business employees could inadvertently disclose marketing plans, internal memos, secret software code or corporate budgets from their own computer or any server to which they are connected.
"The risk of exposure is just massive," said Michael Reagan, senior vice president of marketing for Vericept Inc., a Denver company that sells software to alert employers when workers chat, shop, view pornography or share files on the Net.
"Most people haven't realized what peer-to-peer is, and if they do know, they don't understand there is a big problem," Reagan said. He said Vericept's software can alert companies when confidential information is leaked.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,141 ... #Downloads
that is the stupidest thing i've ever heard
