Exchanging files via the Internet is certainly very convenient, but it is not completely risk-free either. On the various networks and file sharing services, countless files are offered and copied freely. Before receiving a file, users usually only have some meta informationsuch as the file name or its length (video/audio), and are forced to believe almost blindly that it is indeed the advertised content.
Therefore, users of file sharing services are especially vulnerable to malware that may be downloaded instead of actual content or in addition to requested files. The more the exchange is anonymous, the more cautious one should be. This also applies to Copyrightbecause downloading shared files from an unknown source always carries the risk of unknowingly receiving content whose distribution is not legal through this means.
Another danger: with file sharing methods such as P2P, it can quickly happen that private data and not intended for other users are shared on the network. This is certainly due in many cases to a bad configuration of the client, but all the same it happens faster than one would like.
