Phish or No Phish?
Can you spot the differences between a real site and a phishing site?
Test your skills and improve your knowledge by taking this short quiz brought to you by Verisign.
Be careful with peer-to-peer file sharing
Be careful what you download and how you download it
Sharing and downloading music, programs and video files over the internet is common. However, ‘peer-to-peer’ file sharing presents legal and security pitfalls. Learn how to protect yourself.
Risks
There are a number of programs that allow you to share files over the internet. There’s no such thing as a free lunch and they can cause problems:
- Incorrect installation or configuration could let strangers see all the files on your computer
- Installing unwanted software that displays adverts.
- Some install spyware.
- They can be hard to remove completely.
- They can be unreliable and cause system crashes.
- Some viruses specifically target file sharing programs and spread that way.
- It’s easy to download offensive material or viruses disguised as something else.
- A file-sharing program creates a path through your firewall which might be exploited by hackers.
- Sharing copyright material is illegal.
Share with caution
If you must use file-sharing software, make sure you choose safe software, install it safely and use it properly.
- Only install file sharing applications after you have installed anti-spyware software (see Stop spyware).
- Choose a file sharing program that you trust not to include ANY bundled adware or spyware.
- Consider paying for a premium version that is not funded by advertising in order to avoid adware being installed with a 'free' version.
- Download software from trusted websites that check software for viruses and offer no-spyware guarantees.
- html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type" />
- Configure the program carefully so that you only share the files you want to and keep the rest of your files and personal information private. Otherwise you may be sharing your emails, photos, financial information or work files with complete strangers.
- Don't share material that is under copyright.
- Set limits on the bandwidth that is used for uploading files.
- Don't let people browse your files directly.
- Switch off any chat features.
- Review other program options to make sure you are happy with the detail settings.
Be careful about what you download
As well as choosing safe software, you also need to be careful about what you download. We advise:
- Only downloading files when you have an effective anti-virus program running.
- Treating executable files downloaded with extreme caution; for example running them on a separate machine before installing them on your main computer.
- To be on the safe side, use trusted download websites rather than peer-to-peer systems to get programs.
- People can call their files anything they like. It might look like the hot new single or a clip from a great film, but it could be hardcore porn or a virus-infected file.
- Consider using a music download site that you pay for, such as Napster or Apple’s iTunes store, in preference to 'free' peer-to-peer services.
Avoid copyright theft
Although free music, videos and software is very tempting, it is illegal to pirate material that is under copyright.
More information
|
|
|