Ensuring my PC is protected
 

Hi All,

I'm new to L/W and just wanted to ask how I make sure files on my PC are protected from being stolen. Is the 'shared' folder the only one open for access? how I do change these options?

Also, if I'm not uplodaing for the moment, is it best to switch this option off? if so, how do I do this?



Thanks

First of all you need to make sure that you have the latest version of LimeWire. You can download the free version from the Official Site or from your personal download page if you have the Pro version. Second, only the files in your shared folder will be accessable to others. Absolutley nothing else. Good luck.

deepblue

Paranoid about Security
 

Hi limewirevirgin

Just to add to deepblue's advice, if you are really worried about your "C" drive being compromised then get an external HD, like I did, and create a "shared" folder/directory on that instead.

LW by default sets up a “shared” folder/directory on your “C” drive, but I must admit that I was never ever comfortable with this. Therefore, I decided that, before using LW, I would purchase an external drive and use a shared directory on that rather than the default offering.

Admittedly, I made my decision back when V4.0.5 was the current version but today, with V4.8.1 and its security enhancements, you are far less likely to have your “C” drive open to the world.

However, a touch of paranoia keeps you sharp and aware of the possible dangers internet and P2P users face daily, so if I were buying LW Pro (V4.8.1) for the first time I would still end up purchasing an external HD for my shared folder.




UK Bob

What sheer nonsense. Do you work for a harddisk vendor by
any chance? An external harddisk for your shared files buys you absolutely no security whatsoever.
The only reasonable and workable solution is to use a
dedicated account for LimeWire and preparing file/directory
permissions accordingly. If that's too hard for you, forget
about security altogether, you're just wasting your time.

Anything else is nothing but snake oil. Cheers.

I_Have_No_Account

I am not going to get into an argument with you but it is quite obvious that you have no idea what you are talking about or have the decency to enquiry a bit further into my point of view.

If you recall, the reason why we were urged to upgrade to V4.8.1 was that previous versions had a flaw that could allow some malicious person to access the whole of your hard drive.

However, because my “shared folder” is on my external, and is the only thing on my setup with permission to be accessed, I was not vulnerable to that particular security flaw, i.e. my personal data was safe on my “C” drive.

And since you didn't ask, I have other protective software running on my machine to insure my PCs safety and my security.




UK Bob

PS. I do not work for or have shares in HD manufacture, resale or distribution.

What does C or not C have to do with an external drive? Absolutely nothing. A secondary partition whether on the
same drive or not would have exactly the same effect.

You don't even grasp what "secure" means. The vulnerabilities
in question where effective for about a year - with seemingly
nobody knowning them. All this time your "security measures"
only worked by chance and pure luck. If you had shared anything on C or installed LimeWire on the same drive as
your shared files you would have been ****ed like everyone
else. Security must be based on a concept not on a stupid
hack or workaround. Use the core functionality of your operating system. Account management and file permissions are
well-known and understood security devices since the 70s.
You don't have a ****ing clue whether LimeWire has a bug
that allows execution of random data or access to any file
on your system. Your external hdd will in no way protect you
against such bugs. Using a dedicated user account and appropriate file permissions would make you immune against
such bugs i.e., they couldn't cause you any serious trouble.

If you think such precautions are overkill or too much trouble, well nobody forces you to use them. However, don't
make false claims about security then, you are NOT secured.

And your stupid useless virus scanner and personal firewall
are nothing but snake oil devices to provide little more
than pseudo-security whilst providing additional attack paths.

So stop spreading false information.

I have to agree with I_Have_No_Account on this one. I don't see how an external HDD will in any way limit access to your "C" drive. Only making a new user account in Windoze that is configured to lock all other folders on the HDD except for the LimeWire shared folder will give you the most security. I don't pretend to know all of the facts about this topic, and I am merely making a statment based on what I know. I don't keep anything particularly valuable on my hard drive (and if it is valuable it's already encrypted) so I'm not too concerned about this. Good luck.

deepblue

deepblue

As you know, there are more than just one way to protect your PC and I do agree that locking down your O/S account is one way. However, bearing in mind that all software has bugs, it does not hurt to add other security precautions as well.

And I, like most users, do not depend on just one or two protective apps to protect my machine.

As I said before, a touch paranoia keeps you sharp.




UK Bob

PS. I have always been slightly worried about encryption, have you ever had any problems with it?

Learning & Flaming
 

Dear bitstream-surfie

You are right, I will admit I do have a lot to learn and flaming people is definitely wrong, I will certainly not take part in that nonsense again.

However, I will say this, my paranoia has kept me safe so far and it does stop me from becoming complacent. And, yes, I will read up on “security” to see if there is anything else that I should be doing but at the moment I must be doing something right because, all the years I’ve been on the internet and used P2P, I have not been hit by any worms, damaging viruses or suffered from malware.



UK Bob

Dear bitstream-surfie

Thanks for that reminder; I guess I have another weakness, i.e. being pretentious. I guess I did not look at that incident has being hit I just looked at as my son downloading something behind my back.

Maybe you should be a psychiatrist :) .

Time to step back (and become part of the landscape) :cool:.



UK Bob