In an article posted last week entitled, “LimeWire: Free Software is Great but Also Dangerous,” I explained briefly what LimeWire is, some of its benefits, and focused on some of the things users need to watch out for to avoid downloading potentially harmful files. However, not mentionned in that article are two of LimeWire’s functioning characteristics which may pose an equally serious threat irregardless of the files you may be downloading.
Firstly, LimeWire needs to circumvent your Firewall to function properly and there is no getting around this characteristic. This isn’t so bad since LimeWire is a trustworthy application which in itself poses no direct danger when installed on a computer. Unfortunately, the word ‘trustworthy’ does not apply to all of its users; many take advantage of P2P software like LimeWire, Kazaa, and Morpheus to access a lot more than you may be willing to share, especially when you’re not actively using the software. This leads me to the second characteristic users need to know about: LimeWire is, by default, set to ‘run in the background’. These two characteristics combined leaves the door wide open making you vulnerable to identity and data theft.
"Running in the background" means that Limewire will automatically start whenever your computer is started unless this option is specifically disabled. You can disable this option during or after the set-up process, but most users accept the default settings with the result that the software will always run in the background. This puts you at risk of having work, personal information, etc., stolen from your computer. Therefore, Limewire installed, but not disabled, can be just as dangerous as blindly downloading a file from an unknown source.
Having Limewire (or any other P2P file sharing software) continuously active on your computer thus allows other users to access files without your knowledged since the application interface does not need to be opened to be connected to the virtual file-sharing network. Hence, when the application is closed, there is no way for you to monitor in-coming connections.
To disable automatic startup, click on “Tools” in LimeWire’s main menu and select “Options”. Within the options menu that appears on the left-hand side of the pop-up box, open the “Advanced” options located on the bottom and click on “System Boot”; make sure that the “Run on System Startup” box is unchecked.
And when you are finished using LimeWire, make sure that you exit the application entirely and not just close it down. The best way to monitor LimeWire is by enabling the system tray icon which lets you know if the application is running. To do so, click on “Tools,” “Options,” and select “System Tray.” Straightforward shut-down options are also available here. If the icon appears within the system tray and you are not using LimeWire, right-click on the icon and select “exit.”
