The Sour Lemon of Limewire: Alleged Identity Theft by Peer-to-Peer

A Seattle man was brought up on charges this past week for identity theft using the Limewire P2P network. While peer-to-peer networks have been known to pose a security threat for some time, this is the first instance of identity theft. The BCS rightly concludes that P2P represents a greater security threat in that cyber-thieves can exploit security holes in the software to access personal data.

Even if you don't use them, another user on the same machine may. Safwat Fahmy, chairman and chief executive of SafeMedia, warns:

"If teenagers are file-sharing music or movies (over P2P networks), who knows how many criminals might be sharing the family's personal information, credit cards, bank passwords and social security numbers with scheme operators who buy them."

The market for stolen credit cards continues to boom. And it certainly is not restricted to cyber-crooks in Belgrade or Belarus. Just yesterday, a couple went on a shopping spree in Latham, New York, courtesy of a victim in Albany.