p2pnet - rss feed: Denver PD attacks LimeWire
p2pnet.net News:- The Denver District Attorney’s Office has launched an all-out attack on LimeWire at a time when, not at all coincidentally, it’s also under heavy assault from the Big Four Organized Music cartel.
Sharman Networks’ Kazaa would until recently have been the natural victim for the onslaught. But it’s now among other formerly independent p2p file sharing applications such as BearShare, iMesh, eDonkey and Grokster which were first exterminated and then, in effect, cleansed and re-issued under the control of Warner Music, EMI, Sony BMG and Vivendi Universal, who are, significantly, themselves under ongoing state and federal investigation on bribery and price fixing charges.
When you’re, “connected to file-sharing programs, you may unknowingly allow others to copy private files you never intended to share,” warns the US Federal Trade Commission. “You may download material that is protected by the copyright laws and find yourself mired in legal issues. You may download a virus or facilitate a security breach. Or you may unwittingly download pornography labeled as something else.”
Now, “During the course of a routine identity theft investigation, the Denver Police Department executed a search warrant at a Denver apartment and recovered personal and financial information from approximately 75 different individual and business account names from all over the country,” says the DPD.
“The information, which included tax records, bank account information, online bill paying records and other material, appears to have been stolen directly from computers that were using LimeWire.”
When a typical p2p application is installed, it usually automatically includes an empty ’shared’ folder into which downloaded files are placed.
Ask the thousands of innocent men, women and children around the world who use - or used to use - Kazaa and who consequently now feature on Organized Music file sharing hit lists as lawsuit victims.
People who know what they’re doing can change the settings so downloads are sent to another folder. But it’s safe to say that a great many, especially novice computer users and children, have no idea how to do this, or even that it’s a good idea to do so.
And there’s also a chance that not only the shared folder, but the entire hard drive, is visible and accessible online, which is how “private files you never intended to share” are tapped.
“The investigation is continuing, and we are urging people who use LimeWire or other file-sharing software to ensure that their computer security is up to date including adequate firewall security, antivirus software, and other measures,” says the DPD.
However, it fails to point out that security applications and firewalls won’t do a whole lot of good if the hard drive itself is wide open.
Keep personal and private data in private, password protected folders or better yet, store this kind of information in total safety on a completely separate flash or removeable drive, or even a CD or DVD, and regularly delete old, but potentially interesting (to other people), files.
And if you’re someone who barely knows how to turn the computer on, it might also be a good idea to ask your son or daughter how everything works, or get your local computer expert to clue you in.
Meanwhile, the DPD release implies LimeWire isn’t to be trusted. But that’s pure BS. And you can also check out its Important Information about Using P2P Software Safely and/or its User Guide.
Also See:
Denver District Attorney - Computer Security/Identity Theft Alert, October 27, 2006
heavy assault - LimeWire versus the RIAA , September 26, 2006
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November 1st, 2006 at 5:49 pm
IIRC, to share your entire drive on Limewire, you’d need to configure it to do so.