Peer-to-Peer Network Security

By David S. Perkins
September 21, 2009

Data breaches have hit an all time high and with that have been a dramatic increase in new data security and privacy laws and regulations. Both state and federal regulations have been in place for several years with regards to security and privacy of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI). However, new regulations have popped up at a rapid pace. Just a few years ago there were only a handful of states that had data breach notification laws. Today, 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have enacted data breach privacy laws and federal legislation is well on its way.

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Rian from RedTeam Protection, a division of Tony Josephs and Sons Investigations Inc., just sent me another batch of p2p cockups that exposed personal - and in some cases - sensitive medical - information. In each case, RedTeam advised the entity and/or helped ensure removal of the filesharing application.

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Written by Jaikumar Vijayan , Computerworld , 07/31/2009

 Poorly crafted law could would also block some cost-saving file-sharing tech, some say

A proposal to introduce a bill seeking to formally ban the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing applications on government and contractor networks is evoking a mixed response.

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By Brian Krebs and Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post Staff Writers

 The indiscriminate use of a popular online data-sharing technology has led to the disclosure of sensitive government and personal information — including FBI surveillance photos of a Mafia hit man, lists of people with HIV, and motorcade routes and safe-house locations for then-first lady Laura Bush, a congressional panel was told on Wednesday.

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Written By: Jaikumar Vijayan

Lawmakers eye bill to ban P2P use on government, contractor networks

July 29, 2009 (Computerworld) - Details about a U.S. Secret Service safe house for the First Family — to be used in a national emergency — were found to have leaked out on a LimeWire file-sharing network recently, members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee were told this morning.

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News Release - July 8, 2009

 Sydnor Outlines Approaches to Remediate Inadvertent Sharing

WASHINGTON D.C. - Inadvertent file-sharing can still be caused and perpetuated by dangerous “features” in certain file-sharing programs, explains Thomas Sydnor in “Inadvertent File-Sharing Re-Invented: The Dangerous Design of LimeWire 5,” released today by The Progress & Freedom Foundation. 

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Culled from Verizon Business analysis of 90 major security breaches

By Carolyn Duffy Marsan , Network World , 07/05/2009

When you look at the worst corporate security breaches, it’s clear that network managers keep making the same mistakes over and over again, and that many of these mistakes are easy to avoid.

In 2008, Verizon Business analyzed 90 security breaches that represented 285 million compromised records. Most of these headline-grabbing incidents involved organized crime finding an unprotected opening into a network and using it to steal credit card data, Social Security numbers or other personally identifiable information.

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PITTSBURGH — On Friday, May 29th President Barack Obama announced he was creating a position to deal with cyber threats.

The president said cyber threats are one of the most serious challenges facing the country now.

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If you’re confused about file sharing networks, and the hazards involved, you’re not alone. Many people looking for free downloading networks online have unanswered questions about p2p sites and RIAA lawsuit risks. So here are crucial facts and important information you need to know about p2p file sharing sites - before using them!

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ZapShares Inc. announced today the findings of new research that indicates computer systems located in Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia are scouring computer Peer-To-Peer (also known as “P2P”) file-sharing networks for classified information that could place national security at risk.

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