File sharing: security threat

Date: July 31, 2007
Source: blog.washingtonpost.com


The makers of peer-to-peer file sharing software such as Limewire are no strangers to controversy. Hollywood has been battling file-sharing over the Internet for years as a way to curb music and video piracy. But now, Congress is back in the debate, alleging that P2P software can pose a "national security threat."

It appears that sensitive or classified documents - military orders, terrorist threat assessments, accounting documents, tax returns, medical records and more - could fall into the wrong hands if government employees who install file-sharing software on their computers aren't careful about which files and folders they share. According to a CNET report, members of the Government Reform Committee told Limewire chairman Mark Gorton at a hearing on Tuesday that his company also might be exposed to legal liability if someone's income tax returns ended up on the Internet for anyone to see because the file sharing software put them out there.
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