 |
 Peer-to-peer networks: what you should know
January 25, 2005 - Part III
Guidelines on safe P2P use
With modern speed of Internet access and reduced upload and download times, it's important that the participants in peer-to-peer file sharing networks follow guidelines on safe use. Those precautions are briefly listed here; people are advised to apply a common-sense approach when working on a P2P network.
- After you install a P2P application, check your system with an updated antivirus/spyware scanner. (Both are available as commercial products and free trial versions from major security software manufacturers.).
- Use a firewall. Currently, there are both software and hardware types of firewalls on the market. These solutions let users specify what programs should be granted Internet access and what kind of restrictions should apply to them. When you see that a peer-to-peer client is trying to access the Internet, you may allow it, but if you also see that a strange, unknown, possibly malicious program, such as spyware or a virus, is requesting access, you should always block it.
- Again, check the files you download on peer-to-peer networks with virus/spyware scanners, and do not execute files if you doubt their reliability.
Closing argument
Peer-to-peer networks bring millions of Internet resources to people's desktops, but in those millions of downloadable materials lie thousands of ready-to-exploit threats that should be recognized and protected against.
Read next:
Back to Part II
Back to Part I
|
|
