MIRO

Pros: For those who believe it is infected. the recent malware attack revolved around people downloading files which were renamed to look like music and movies, but instead engineer a situation where lots of other stuff gets installed on the host PC, causing all sorts of problems. While viewing some of the filenames listed by McAfee, I had to remind myself that I was a novice once too - but it was still a stretch for me to believe so many people would download files that look like these:

preview-t-3545425-adult.mpg

preview-t-3545425-changing times earth wind .mp3

preview-t-3545425-meet bambi in kings harem.mp3

preview-t-3545425-middle eastern chick.mpg

preview-t-3545425-theme godfather.mp3

t-3545425-bentley bizzle.mp3

t-3545425-haloween special.mp3

t-3545425-just got lucky.mp3

t-3545425-peanut butter jelly amende.mp3

The good news is that the chances of these type of files appearing on BitTorrent are very low as trackers have moderators who remove such junk, something which is largely impossible on Gnutella (LimeWire) and eMule (ed2k). As long as the ?infected? users keep this stuff in their shared folder, there is little that can be done to stop it spreading. If they don?t clean this stuff out, no-one will, and it?s in this department BitTorrent comes out tops - again.

First of all, BitTorrent isn?t a ?folder sharing? client like LimeWire or KaZaA, which means that the user needs to use a torrent site to distribute (publish) his torrent. If the content is legitimate (and there are very few rules in most places, save obviously illegal material) the .torrent file will be up for all to download, with links to malware and viruses mostly filtered out by humans - otherwise known as ?mods? or ?moderators?.

BitTorrent has thousands of hard working and largely unpaid moderators, who work tirelessly to make sure that files like these don?t make it to the BitTorrent user?s computer. In reality, files presented like the ones above could never slip by the site mods, they would see them a mile away and remove them quickly.

BitTorrent isn?t 100% malware free but compared to Gnutella and ed2k, it is astonishingly healthy and that is largely down to the strength of the system and the mods, who work non-stop behind the scenes to keep BitTorrent an enjoyable experience.

For the few small things that slip through the net, try our guides.

Cons: CNET Download.com is a safe, trusted, and spyware-free Web site for downloading video software and other applications. Whether you're searching for video programs, other types of software, or helpful information about using video software, CNET Download.com has tens of thousands of downloads for improving your digital life.

Posted: 17-May-2008 02:30:29 AM