Re: File sharing with Bittorrent: what possible security threads?

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008, Simon Jolle sjolle wrote:
> My friend is a heavy bittorrent user. He download there pirated
> stuff like movies, sound, software, etc
>
> What are the security problems from the file sharing scene (for Mac
> and Linux user)? Are there at all issues?
>
> I heard from embedding maleware to Windows Media Files, adding
> Trojans to pirated applications, etc

It is a good idea to separate risk into two groups: (1) risks of using
BitTorrent; (2) risks of using "pirated stuff".

The first group is almost empty: downloading your Debian CD images
with BitTorrent is not more risky than browsing Internet with HTTP.
There can be unpatched security bugs in your BitTorrent client, but
the chances that it will ever be exploited on your Linux computer are
negligible.

The second group has nothing to do with the distribution media. The
risks are: legal actions and malware. To evaluate the former check
statistics of your state (not to be confused with PR buzz). As of the
latter, it is safe to assume that malware in media files is not a risk
on Linux: not because Linux media players are usually more secure, but
because it is such a tiny market for malware authors that they don't
bother. (Linux viruses propagate using the following method: "Wow,
send it to me -- I want to see this rarity!" :-)

-- 
Regards,
ASK