P2P pests on BitTorrent

Families with file-sharers need to know that spyware and adware are showing up in BitTorrent files. "Purveyors of the applications that produce pop-up ads on PC screens and track browsing habits have discovered BitTorrent as a new distribution channel," CNET reports. This is new. Previous-generation file-sharing services like Kazaa were widely known to be riddled with these pests, which hurt PC performance. Now, users of the much more popular BitTorrent are dealing with them. An example CNET gave was a copy of Fox TV's "Family Guy," which arrived on a security researcher's PC "bundled with several pieces of known adware." The researcher said that could really reduce the performance of the average family PC. Usually, when downloading a media file, file-sharers will see on their screens "a dialog box advising that the extra software was about to be installed." It gives the impression, CNET says, that you need to install the extra software to get access to the desired file. However, the security researcher found, if you just decline the adware or spyware license a couple of times, you get the file without installing the pests. See also "File-sharing realities for families."