Fight Identity Theft Blog

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing networks exist so people can download free mp3 files, DVDs, movies, etc. They work by having each member of the network share some personal files while downloading files from other people's computers. Share and share alike, right?

This has understandably driven the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) as well as the people in Hollywood crazy. So crazy that they are suing people they catch sharing copyrighted materials. We're not going to go into the ethics either way on this argument. Maybe some other time...

The problem is that people are not only sharing their ripped CDs and DVDs, they're also sharing (accidently, I'm guessing) sensitive files on their hard drive like tax returns, bank statements and cancelled checks.

A blogger recently decided to do a few searches on Gnutella, a major P2P network, for sensitive documents. It took him only 10 minutes to find a handful.

Take a look at what he dug up... (maybe it's your tax return)

What is the lesson you should learn?

1. Avoid P2P networks PERIOD! The software that enables the network is often full of spyware and the files you download can be infected with viruses and other malware. Not good.
2. Keep control of other users on your computer, especially if they are teenagers. If they install file-sharing software on your computer it may be your tax return (along with your SSN, DOB, address, etc.) showing up all over the internet.
3. If you do decide to use file sharing software, make sure you've clearly designated a single folder to share and make sure you don't accidently drop your scanned bank statements in the folder.

The Sober worm we talked about earlier will possibly start clogging email inboxes on January 6 or even January 5.

If you aren't running anti-virus software (huh?) or haven't updated your definitions file recently, you'll want to so in the next day or so. If not, you could be one of the computers spreading more Nazi propoganda.

So where can you scan your computer for free? Here are a few ideas:

- http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

- http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp

- http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/ActiveScan.htm

These services will allow you to scan for free, but you'll probably have to pay a small fee to remove anything they find. In either case, it's best to know if you're clean (or not).

Is the torrent of spam emails in your inbox finally going down? Maybe a little bit, based on some recent studies reported by the New Scientist magazine.

E-mail filtering firm MX Logic reported that spam accounted for 68% of emails passing through its network in 2005.

Ummm... that was the good news, actually.

Why good news? Because that's down from 77% in 2004.

Not only are fewer spam messages being sent across the internet, it appears that spam filters are working better than ever. An FTC test showed that "two free web-based ISPs' anti-spam filters effectively blocked almost all spam sent to e-mail addresses that FTC staff had posted on the Internet."

In other words, if you're not using a spam filter of some kind, what are you waiting for?

ING Direct USA is doing its best to thwart keystroke logging software by using a web-based numeric keypad.

Since a secure connection won’t protect you if a keystroke logger has been installed on your computer, ING Direct is using the keypad to keep you from having to enter your numbers from your keyboard. This will keep you typing in your account number and password and hopefully, keeping it from being tracked by thieves.

If your bank isn’t using a strategy like this you should request it - it’s a great idea!

Here's what it looks like:

See it in action on the live ING Direct web site