Sensitive Data Leaking Onto P2P Networks

Corporate and government documents containing confidential — and sometimes classified — data are increasingly getting exposed through the use of peer-to-peer networks on computers holding the sensitive information.

The problem of inadvertent exposure of sensitive data on P2P networks is a “whole lot worse” than many government and corporate IT managers believe, said Eric Johnson, professor of operations management at the Center for Digital Strategies at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business in Hanover, N.H.

Much of the problem, Johnson told the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform late last month, is due to the installation of P2P software on computers used by telecommuting workers and contractors.