A study by the Ponemon Institute has said that people are unaware of the dangers associated with using P2P filesharing programs like Limewire and Ares. IT security organizations are, apparently, ignorant of the risks that filesharing networks pose to their businesses.

Several large financial firms suffered data breaches in 2007 because of P2P filesharing networks. Client data was exposed. Sensitive files are readily available over filesharing network to those with the technical know-how to find them.

Companies make thousands of documents available over filesharing networks daily. Anyone can gain access to these documents. 26% of those surveyed were unaware of any policies at their place of work addressing the issue of filesharing.

More disturbingly, 35% of those surveyed were convinced that sensitive documents cannot be mistakenly transferred over filesharing networks. Only 25% thought that their company would be able to prevent such a filesharing disaster from occurring.

Note to self: stop using Limewire at work.