CNet News reported yesterday afternoon that:
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has notified nearly 100
organizations that data from their networks has been found on
peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, the agency said on Monday.
The FTC notices went to private and public entities, including schools
and local government agencies and organizations with as few as eight
employees to as many as tens of thousands, the FTC said in a statement.
The sensitive information about customers and employees that was leaked
could be used to commit identity fraud, conduct corporate espionage,
and for other crimes.
Unfortunately file sharing based on peer-to-peer technology is only a part of the problem. Some firewalls and most intrusion prevention systems (IPSs) can block peer-to-peer file sharing. However, the problem is actually much worse – the growth of browser-based file sharing applications designed to bypass most firewalls and IPSs.
Palo Alto Networks, a next-generation (as defined by Gartner) firewall vendor, recognizes and can control or block 88 different file sharing sharing applications. Of these, 40 use peer-to-peer technology, 39 are browser-based, and 9 are client-server. Therefore if your network security infrastructure can control or block peer-to-peer file sharing, you are solving less than half the problem.
For more information about the hundreds of applications that ought to be controlled or blocked, go to Palo Alto Network's Applipedia.
