Why Peer to Peer File Sharing can be Dangerous

Peer to peer (P2P) computing involves the direct connection of any two computers over the Internet, without the use of use of another server as a "middleman" to manage the interaction. The most popular use of P2P computing today is to share files over dedicated file-sharing network, typically to download music and video files.

On a traditional file downloading website, files are stored on a host computer for downloading to your PC. In a P2P file-sharing system, there is no host computer; instead, the users of the P2P system establish a network of personal computers over the Internet. You connect to the file sharing network and then search other users' computers for the files you want to download. When you find a match, the file is copied directly from that other user's computer to your PC.

Allowing another computer user to directly access your computer over a peer to peer network increases your security risk in a number of ways: