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In Windows XP, in Control Panel, click Network Connections. Highlight your Internet connection, double click and select Properties. Click the Networking tab. Make sure the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks box is not checked. (See Figure 8.)

Figure 8: Making sure Windows XP isn’t sharing files over the Internet.

How dangerous is NetBIOS sharing? Greggory Peck, a senior security engineer who defends U.S. government clients against computer crime, reports:

Last night I explored my DSL [high speed Internet] connection. I discovered more computers than I could count with default administrative shares." [Default means no passwords.] I was able to connect to these computers and see listings of their files.

It’s a good idea to check from time to time to make sure a Trojan such as Nimda hasn’t secretly enabled sharing of your files.