Peer to Peer Is It Safe?????

[premshamo]

Dear Friends
Is it safe to use peer to peer network tools like kazaa behind socks proxy and firewall, what are all the pottential risks???
thanks

[Ron the don]

This has been discussed to death recently here is the latest thread.
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...ht=is+p2p+safe

My opinion is nothing is! 100% safe on the net when downloading files.

On the p2p side of things I have never had any problems with Bit Torrent files as yet.

http://bytemonsoon.com/

Seem to ge a group of people intrested in purely sharing.

[Agent Johnson]

that sounds pretty much like the setup we have on my sons computer, he's got a firewall, antivirus program (thank god!!), his kazaa doesn't use a proxy, and he still got plenty of viruses, or virii, whatever. I mean, after all you are downloading files from god knows who, saving them onto your hard drive, and firewalls and proxies are not meant to stop a virus. They are invaluable security tools, but they are just not meant for virus protection.

Most of his virii came from downloading porn videos, which we eventually used kazaa's content controls to block. AVG is an excellent virus scanner that caught all the ones he did get.

So there is no short answer to your question "is it safe to use peer to peer network tools..." You are definitely still at risk of virii and trojans, despite the proxy and firewall. Add a virus scanner and trojan scanner to your list of security devices and i'd say you can swap files safely...

until the gov't shuts it all down

[AciDriveHB]

LOL it would be interesting ot see the goverment shut down P2P networking. It is a used as a big exchange for "pirated" information and such, but I think it's still the thought behind it. Keep trying to shut us down, and we will keep finding ways to pop up. Plus I would think it would be some sort of privacy issue if they would be able to fully try to stop P2P... but that's a different story...

Back to the topic, yes P2P networking has a lot of problems with it. As Agent Johnson said, you can get viruses, and you leave your computer open so people will be able to find it easy and do port scans and such. You really have to be on your toes, keep up with all the security updates for your OS and AntiVirus software, and always checking your firewall logs (if you can) to make sure you haven't been hacked into.

Personally, I would setup a computer to run Kazaa itself. Put your AntiVirus software on it, and open up the por that Kazaa uses STRICTLY to that computer. That way you can kind of keep a safety net around that computer. Plus from time to time I would do an online virus scan of that computer, using something like Symantec has setup.

Anyway, hope that helped a little...
~AciD

[keezel]

You could find pretty much whatever you need from the link posted above, but the basics of that conv. were that kazaa is not safe at all because it loads a ton of spyware into your computer and punches a hole in your firewall before you even download your first file. P2P is a breeding ground for virii and there are trojans all over the place. I recommend using kazaa lite instead because it comes without spyware and I also recommend having ad-aware for catching any spyware you are likely to download as well as a good antivirus. A firewall can't really protect you from the virii you download, but it's good for keeping trojans from broadcasting their signal from your computer if you accidentally install one. You can download ad-aware from here: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
-keezel

[Dr Toker]

Interesting topic, as I was discussing this with a few freinds of mine just the other day. The question you asked is a rather broad question. But the immidiate answer for me would be, no.

I find when using Kazaa, that it is Riddled with just about every type of trojan, virus, loggers, ect, all under the guise of a pirated copy of Unreal, or other types of software. I find when doing a search on Kazaa/LITE/Morphius, or really any other p2p sharing program, that i feel like I am walking through a mine feild. Hoping not to click on the wrong file.

Your best bet is simply being carefull. If your going to use Kazaa, use it only for Music. MP3 files are less likely to have any suprises added on to them. If you have to download software, try to avoid downloading .exe files at all cost. As it is so damn easy to bind any trojan virus to an exe. Also watch for the double extension files like, mypic.jpg.exe. Yeah thats going to be a bad thing.

Also, in my experience, when I used to send out trojans, when someone was behind a router, even though I had infected them, I was unable to connect to the IP that was infected, because his router, would not route me to his box. I'm sure there is a workaround, but it is more involved and will deterr alot of skiddys.

The bottom line is, no-one is safe, but there are things you can do to be "More Safe". Look at P2P sharing software as the Ghetto of the internet. Its like, with your car, your not going to park in the Ghetto, and leave the doors unlocked. Simply locking the doors wont keep your car from being broken into, but it will deterr some. Why not add a "Club" to it as well. Ya see where I'm going with this? Add as much security as you can. Nothing will make you Fort Knoxx, but you can come close.

And thats my Rx.

[hexadecimal]

well that depends if it is safe on what u download
yes there is a risk that u could be infected when ur downloading stuff but that is relatevily small
if u get kazaa ( i highly recommend u dont) turn on the fillter potential virus box and listen when the virus warning pops up
viruses that u download on P2P networks are found mostly in porn and music to my experience
like i said i HIGHLY suggest u dont get kazaa but i cant make up ur mind but there is something that is less known out there that has extreamly less viruses its called eMule i tink the site is www.emule.com this is usefull cause u can download iso files on it and always have an antivirus software running and monitering all downloads on EVERYTHING i didnt do this and i had problems for a couple weeks but have fun and dont piss of the government by pirating (hard to avoid when u could either pay $200 or dl for free i mean were all human and money is highly rated)

[Ron the don]

Just curious

Has anyone ever got a trojan/virus/keylogger from a file they have downloaded from a Bit Torrent p2p network?

[Highlander]

P2P is becoming more interesting.....
Now with users who share some files may be sued!!

As far as Viruses and Trojans being passed around on P2P
The answer is YES!!!

[hexadecimal]

no i havent with bit torrent but i havent used it alot