Wow, that sounds extremely ominous! <smile>

I've been file sharing for a long time, used most of the programmes
available for this,nd have never had any trouble. That's not to say that
aren't caveats. I have had a few downloads contain viruses, but as with all
files from the Internet I scan them. I have had more trouble from
installing shareware / freeware than from file sharing file.

Cheers,

Tom

At 09:12 PM 1/5/03 +1000, you wrote:
>Robin writes:
>
><<I've used Kazaa with good success. However, make sure that you download
>Kazaalite and not the full featured Kazaa with all its spyware.>>
>
>Treat Kazaa, and indeed any file-sharing program, as you would a glass of
>hemlock.
>
>It's not the program or even the spyware as such, but the nasties some
>cretins put out there for the innocent and unwary to download.
>
>It's now come to light that there's a security flaw in Winamp, which will
>allow registry keys to be secretly placed in your registry via an
>apparently innocent .MP3 file, which will then execute any destructive code
>some stranger wants to place inside your computer.  Alexa and Hotbar have
>been secretly downloading registry keys for ages, so nothing new there in
>principle.
>
>The short answer to downloading ANY file from a complete stranger
>is---DON'T.  Seems there are several nasties floating around Kazaa right
>now, as a lot of people are suddenly getting things screwed up.  You'll
>find that most tech advisors will advise against using such software.
>
>If I were to use any peer-to-peer downloading, I think I'd download all
>such files to a completely isolated Drive or an old computer first. Then if
>anything gets screwed, it's simple enough to reformat to clean things up. I
>wouldn't be relying solely on any a-v software to keep me 100% safe.
>
>A glance at Symantic and other similar a-v sites will reveal the sorts of
>nasties these cretins are putting out onto the Web.
>
>The idea of peer-to-peer sharing is great, as long as you are aware of the
>risks, and the possibility that you might have to reformat.  There's always
>someone out there who wants to ruin it for the rest.
>
>Don Penlington
>Free computer tutorials at: http://www.geocities.com/donaldpen/

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