The best way to minimize the risks associated with peer to peer file sharing is to completely avoid these file sharing networks. Beyond this action, you can take the following steps to reduce your security risk:
To reduce the risk of unwanted file access, turn off file sharing on your computer. Alternately, you can enable file sharing only for those computers directly connected to your home network. Other computer users are then blocked from accessing your data.
To reduce the risk of viruses, you should install and run an anti-virus program on your computer. A good anti-virus program will check the contents of any disguised file for virus code or virus-like behavior, and alert you to the presence of an infection.
To reduce the risk of installing spyware on your PC, you should carefully monitor which programs you install on your computer. Many peer to peer programs give you the option of not installing the spyware or adware components. You should install only the main peer to peer program, not any programs that piggyback on the installation. In addition, you should install and run an anti-spyware program on your PC, to guard against new spyware installations.