Like many teenagers, Mary loved to use file-sharing Web sites to find new music and videos. Her parents made sure she didn't download anything that was copyrighted, so they figured her file-sharing activities were harmless.
However, Mary's parents soon noticed that their computer wasn't working as well as it had been. A scan with their antivirus software showed that the computer had been invaded with loads of malware. It turned out that Mary had been downloading files from people she didn't know, and many of these files contained viruses and worms that wreaked havoc as soon as they got on Mary's computer.
Now Mary makes sure to only download files from people she knows, and she scans every file with antivirus software before downloading it. "I didn't realize that some of those files could hurt my computer," she says. "I guess I should have realized that downloading files from people I don't know is just as bad as opening email attachments from people I don't know."
To learn how to protect yourself from malware when file-sharing, see File Sharing - Malware
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