Myth or reality?: The risks of download programs

People often think that using the various download programs poses no risk and that they are, by nature, as harmless as a browser, a messenger or any other program that uses the internet. There’s also a widespread belief that warnings from IT security experts are often exaggerated or based on arbitrary ideas. However, there are many hidden realities here. Malicious hackers usually take advantage of users’ lack of knowledge, secretly involving them in criminal activities.

So, myth or reality?

Download programs such as eMule, Ares and uTorrent, among many others, connect to file-sharing networks made up of hundreds of thousands of other home computers or machines of unknown nature. They therefore set up “roads” or “pipes”, which are the simplest routes for transmitting malicious code such as viruses, worms and trojans, as well as for redirecting traffic to suspicious websites and downloading child pornography. In many cases, no user interaction is even needed: just by having these programs “running” we can fall victim to an attack or unknowingly take part in all kinds of illegal activities carried out by third parties. Users usually don’t notice their computer is infected because, in most cases, it doesn’t affect performance much. However, a computer that shows no clear signs of infection may, for example, be part of a botnet: a network of infected computers that can be used to launch an attack or for all kinds of criminal activities.

“Zacarías Leone, a computer forensics investigator at I-SEC, said that abuse of technology resources is often detected among employees of private companies who, through certain configurations and the use of P2P software (such as Kazaa or eMule), turn their workstations into nodes for trafficking child pornography files. Companies discover these cases when they receive a national and/or international demand from the courts, the police or Interpol showing that the IP addresses the downloads came from belong to their dishonest employees.” (César Dergarabedian. Infobaeprofesional.com)

Clearly, the risks of these programs are real. So what safe alternatives do we have to avoid using them? There are several options, free or very low-cost, that give us legal and safe access to music, videos and software of all kinds.

Music:

One of many services, and also one of the most complete

www.spotify.com

It gives us access to hundreds of thousands of songs by different artists and, for a subscription from 9 dollars a month, a range of extra services, including the option to listen to your favourite music offline.

Films and series:

Not the most complete, but very quick and legal

www.crackle.com

Completely legal and free Microsoft software:

Perhaps the most interesting and least known. Aimed mainly at SMEs and companies in their early stages.

www.microsoft.com/bizspark

On this site you can get free licences for Windows, Office and many other Microsoft products