Security Risks Of Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

by | Mar 5, 2017 | CCNA, CCNP, CompTIA, End Point Protection, Malware Prevention, Online Banking Security

attacks. And that makes the innocent users vulnerable to attacks.

Risk of private data getting shared

With P2P File Sharing Software, certain directories are shared with other computers in the P2P network. But, sometimes, directories are more than what is intended to be shared with the network. As a result, without the knowledge of the user, the user’s private data gets shared. And sharing of information, more than what is intended, is always harmful, especially when it falls into the hands of malicious users.

Rogue software

To increase the revenue of their software, sometimes the software provider gives a false sense of security to the users. With wrong information in hand or with misinterpretations of information, users with firewalls make holes in the firewalls for the P2P File Sharing Software. They think that if they do not create a hole, their file-sharing will be affected, and they won’t be able to properly download lucrative data.

Monetary gains of miscreants

And last but not least, setting up a P2P File Sharing Software is very costly. If the software provider distributes free digital media over that network, our common sense says, they must have some profit plans for them.

In most cases, they earn through adware (What is adware?). Almost all P2P File Sharing Software contains adware, which gets downloaded to users’ computers when they download the software. And sometimes, with adware, the downloaded software contains malware and spyware (What are spyware and how to prevent them?) too. And the malware gets distributed to all users who download the software.

This article gave a brief overview of the security risks of P2P File Sharing software. Interested readers who want to know more about how various malware and cyberattacks work may want to refer to the book “A Guide To Cyber Security.”

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Amrita Mitra

Author

Ms. Amrita Mitra is an author, who has authored the books “Cryptography And Public Key Infrastructure“, “Web Application Vulnerabilities And Prevention“, “A Guide To Cyber Security” and “Phishing: Detection, Analysis And Prevention“. She is also the founder of Asigosec Technologies, the company that owns The Security Buddy.

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