Internet users should be aware of the security risks before installing free file-sharing applications such as Foxy on their computers, an expert said.
Foxy has prevailed among web surfers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland for a couple of years as users are allowed to simply search by keywords and download any type of shared files from other users.
However, errors were reported in the peer-to-peer file-sharing software last year. The developer later said the problem had been fixed.
Roy Ko Wai-tak, manager of the government-backed Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Co-ordination Centre, said it was not uncommon for freeware to have bugs which could pose a risk to the users' data.
'It is possible that the bugs will allow the program to share files which you do not intend to, and you will not be notified of it,' he said, adding that once the programme was installed, its default setting allowed the entire hard disk to be shared.
There might also be some users who had downloaded an older version of the program before the bugs had been fixed, Mr Ko said.