Does my pc need P2p Networking using 20% of cpu
capability at all times?
Does it mean that data is being transferred off my pc if
I am not using anything except the windows task manager
and the p2p Networking.exe process is using 16-27 of cpu?
John,
If you're running a P2P server, and you have some popular files that
you're offering, 16 - 27 % of cpu is not unreasonable IMHO.
That said, if you are offering a P2P share to the world at large, you
would be well off scanning for viruses and spyware frequently. Some
P2P software is known for spyware content. Some viruses spread thru
P2P shares too.
A combined spyware attack might include a trojan in the P2P software
that might include you in a world wide spam distribution network.
There is at least one large network of trojaned computers which is
being used quite blatantly by a large spamming operation.
If your computer became part of that, your cpu and network resources
might get sucked up quite fast. Worse yet, complaints to your ISP
(from spam recipients) might cause you considerable grief.
SWI Forums will help you here. Run Spybot S&D and HijackThis. Both
products will help you identify and disable suspicious processes, and
both will let you save before disabling, so if an essential P2P tool
stops working, you can re enable it easily.
Start with this article, which contains all instructions for both free
and effective products:
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=5187
You would probably be advised to get a packet scanner and process
monitor. I use Port Explorer
<
http://www.diamondcs.com.au/portexplorer/index.php?page=home> and
Process Explorer
<
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/procexp.shtml> (both
free). Port Explorer will help you see what network traffic is
active, what outside computers are generating the traffic, and what
process is supporting the traffic. Process Explorer will help you
identify a suspicious process, and verify its components.
P2P is kewl. And a lot of fun. But be vigilant.
Cheers,
Chuck
I hate spam - PLEASE get rid of the spam before emailing me!
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
