A New Generation of File Sharing Tools

Despite the demise of Napster, online file sharing tools are only growing more and more popular, aided by the increasing number of Internet users who have broadband connections and the increasing level of sophistication of those users. Setting aside the debates over the ethics of file sharing and where to draw the line on copyright protection, we can assert that these tools can be real problems for IT departments, ISPs and content providers. After initially being far behind the technology curve, these groups have made many strides recently in countering the ill effects of file sharing. However, the authors of file sharing tools have not been idle either. Several tools have been released and promoted recently that attempt to thwart or circumvent the defensive measures put in place by the defenders. Certainly, some of these tools can be used for legitimate purposes, and the technology being implemented is quite impressive. However, it behooves today’s information security professional to know the details of how these new tools work and what the threat is.