Anytime you use the Internet you need to be careful to ensure that your private information is kept safe and confidential. Using peer-to-peer technology like Kazaa is no different. The three main areas to be aware of are:
Safe Sharing
Kazaa enables you to share files with other users. However,
it is important to ensure that you choose carefully which
files you want to share. Don't share files which are confidential,
such as financial information, or which you do not have
the right to distribute.
For this reason, it is safest to use 'My Shared Folder', (usually found on your Desktop), which will be automatically set up as the folder to which files are downloaded. This means that all files inside 'My Shared Folder' are available for other Kazaa users to find and download from you. New files that you download will automatically go into 'My Shared Folder'.
If you want to share other files you can copy them into 'My Shared Folder' through the Windows Explorer program.
Important Note
When you select a folder to share, all files and sub-folders inside that folder will be available for other Kazaa users to download. Please take great care not to accidentally share files that are confidential or which you do not have the right to distribute. It is highly recommended that you do not share your entire hard drive or ‘My Documents’ folder.
Viruses
Most files that are accessible using Kazaa originate from other users. This means that there will always be the risk of irresponsible users introducing viruses. The Sharman Networks team is working hard to develop solutions to make Kazaa a safe peer-to-peer application. There are also several things you can do to protect yourself.
Stay Up To Date
Always make sure you have the latest version of Kazaa.
Kazaa v2 and later versions include built-in virus protection
programs from BullGuard that help you filter out files
from your search results that may be virus infected. Read
more.
Download Premium, High Quality Content
Files marked with Gold icons come directly from our premium
content providers and are of high quality. Read more about
premium content providers.
Turn On Your Virus Filter
Go to Tools > Options > Filter and check the 'Filter file types that can potentially contain viruses' box under 'Miscellaneous'. This will prevent the following file types appearing in search results: .EXE, .SCR, .LNK, .BAT, .VBS, .COM, .DLL, .BIN and .CMD.
Other Virus Protection Software
If you are not already using virus protection software
please use a virus protection tool such as those listed
below to scan any files ending with the above file extensions
before opening them. Good virus protection utilities
include BullGuard (www.bullguard.com), Norton Antivirus
(www.norton.com) and McAfee (www.mcafee.com).
