SafeMedia Warns of more P2P Identity Theft in aftermath of Seattle Criminal Indictment

September 11, 2007 - Boca Raton, Fla. – SafeMedia, citing a Sept. 7, 2007 Seattle indictment, believes it is the first case involving P2P networks. U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Seattle Police indicted Gregory Thomas Kopiloff of Seattle for allegedly using information on tax returns, bank statements and credit reports to obtain identity information to defraud consumers, banks and retailers.

According to their investigation, thousands of potential criminals each day use P2P networks to steal consumer information necessary to commit identity theft and fraud.

SafeMedia’s P2PD solutions guarantees complete Identity theft protection for any computer connected to a government, corporate or university network, cable or DSL modem that has a P2P client installed. SafeMedia’s P2PD technology is the only solution that can guarantee complete protection of your computer from identity theft associated with contaminated Peer 2 Peer networks.

SafeMedia’s P2PD eliminates the threat of criminals who are using encrypted or non encrypted contaminated P2P networks to steal government, corporate and personal identity information.

"Most people who use P2P networks don't even know that they have exposed sensitive government, corporate and personal, financial, and health information and this indictment on an alleged Seattle fraud ring shows what a group of ID thieves could do if they grab your information,” said President/COO Pasquale Giordano, SafeMedia Corp. “SafeMedia’s P2P Disaggregator (P2PD) Solutions is the only solution that can guarantee that criminals using P2P network clients can never access government, corporate or personal records.”

According to a four-count indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court, Thomas Kopiloff used Limewire, Soulseek and other "peer-to-peer" file-sharing programs to troll other computers for financial information, which he used to open credit cards for an online shopping spree. The report said he bought more than $73,000 worth of goods online, then resold those items at steep discounts and kept the proceeds.

This is not the first time that thieves using P2P networks have stolen personal identity information. Pfizer lost more than 15,000 employee records to inadvertent filesharing by an employee on a contaminated P2P network. They are now facing a class action lawsuit by their employees.

SafeMedia technology “P2P Disaggregator (P2PD)” is a unique technology that eliminates all the threats of contaminated Peer-To-Peer (P2P) networks. SafeMedia’s technology makes it impossible for a computer to contact or be contacted by a contaminated P2P network. This prevents uploading and downloading of any files to contaminated P2P networks — the primary sources of identity theft and illegal digital copyrighted file sharing. SafeMedia solution never invades user privacy and allows all legitimate P2P networks and Internet traffic to pass unencumbered at network speeds.

“SafeMedia’s P2PD technology is embedded in DSL and cable modems in the home or work environment
or as a subnet appliance to protect government, corporate or university networks.” This installation model eliminates any network latency and eliminates bandwidth consumption at a subnet level associated with contaminated P2P networks. The end result is a safer, faster Internet experience for all users and a network
that consumes less bandwidth,” explained Giordano.

Federal prosecutors say Kopiloff was allegedly responsible for stealing dozens of consumer identities, then using those identities to purchase goods for resale, counterfeit checks, and set-up fraudulent online bank accounts. Unlike previous ID and fraud cases, the man arrested allegedly used peer-to-peer or P2P file sharing networks to find his victim's tax returns, credit reports, and bank statements by searches made through P2P file sharing networks. He is charged with mail fraud, accessing a protected computer, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Authorities allege he victimized at least 83 people.

This Summer Retired General Wesley Clark labeled P2P networks as the “next national security threat.”

CEO & Chairman, Safwat Fahmy, SafeMedia Corp. couldn’t agree more. “If teenagers are filesharing music or movies (over P2P networks), who knows how many criminals might be sharing the family’s personal information, credit cards, bank passwords and social security numbers with scheme operators who buy them,” said Fahmy, who created Clouseau®, a practical and cost effective technology to stop illegal file sharing on contaminated P2P networks. “I don’t think parents would allow their children to download free music or movies over P2P networks if they knew their kids were also sharing family photo files or personal information with everyone,” he noted.

"A recent landmark ruling by an Arizona court, Atlantic v. Howell, means that anyone who has P2P programs on their computer connected to a contaminated P2P network (even without downloading files) is committing copyright infringement since the only reason to have the programs is to make copyrighted files available to all other users,” said Pasquale Giordano, president & COO, SafeMedia Corp.

“Unknowing Internet users are duped into breaking the law and jeopardizing their standing and their futures as law-abiding citizens,” explained Fahmy. “Even when parents know that their children are using popular sites like LimeWire, eMule, uTorrent and dozens of others, most of them are not techies enough to understand these illegal P-2-P networks features,” explained Fahmy. “The problem is, on the surface they appear to be so easy to use; parents believe that they are safe.” SafeMedia estimates more than 700 contaminated P2P networks facilitate 70 million illegal downloads daily.

SafeMedia’s technology solution does not require users to install anything on their computers to be protected.

[Editors: For more information about SafeMedia Corp.’s new product line visit: www.SafeMedia.com.
For media interviews contact: George McQuade, at MAYO Communications,
818-340-5300 or 818-618-9229 or PR@MayoCommunications.com.]