ID theft by file-sharing: Limewire users beware!

For years, bigwigs in the music industry have been trying to deter netizens from sharing mp3 songs using P2P programs such as Limewire through all sorts of means—all to no avail. This time, maybe they can bank on this piece of news to scare away netizens from constant file sharing:

Associated Press recently reported that a Seattle man has been arrested in what the US Justice Department described as its first case against someone accused of using file-sharing digital data to commit identity theft. The man, Gregory Thomas Kopiloff, used Limewire's file-sharing program "to troll other people's computers for financial information, which he used to open credit cards for an online shopping spree."

“Authorities said they have identified least 83 victims — most of whom have teenage children and did not know the file-sharing software was on their computer. But investigators also said they believe the number of people affected was in the hundreds — and that in all they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“Each day, computer users inadvertently share hundreds of thousands of sensitive files through such programs, from banking statements and medical records to tax returns and legal documents …Typically the mistakes occur when a user downloads file-sharing software and accidentally allows it to share all files on a computer, rather than just music files, for example.

“‘If you are running file-sharing software, you are giving criminals the keys to your computer," said assistant U.S. attorney Kathryn Warma. "Criminals are getting access to incredibly valuable information.’” Read the rest of the article here.

Scary. If anything, this piece of news should keep Limewire and other users of P2P sharing programs vigilant when using said programs. Most of the victims identified are teenagers who are not aware of potential risks of us ing said programs, so adults and parents must especially instruct their children of potential hazards and means to keep the data stored in their computers safe from cyber-sleuths.

To be safe, double check and ensure that all you are sharing are merely music files. As an ardent Limewire user, I did just that as soon as I finished reading the news article.