is allowing an upload from my computer safe?

Question

is it safe to allow files I have written to be uploaded, the reason would be for some freelance writing which I do, however my concern is that my computer is being opened up for some one else to browse through. Could they take other files as well. Thanks for any advice on this.

Answer 1

Depends. If you trust the site and its a major, reliable corporation like: Fox, or Microsoft...know what I mean?

Answer 2

Do not do it. Major corporations and websites only have websites on their web servers, and store private information on computers that are not directly connected to the web. When you open your computer to share, you are opening yourself to having a service available that allows someone to connect. Once someone is connected to you, if there are any exploits that can be used against your server/software, they can do bad things against your computer.

If you are talking about simply uploading files to a site, it is safe. In fact you technically uploaded your post to this answers thing. I am referring to opening a share on your computer where users can connect and download stuff.

The bottom line is people who run webservers separate them from everything else, and lock them down with strict security. They keep up on the latest patches and security info (well at least they should) so if you are a novice with servers, AND use your computer for anything other than a web server, it is not good.
Get a cheap web host and just host them on a website. In fact if you are a writer, you should have a website anyway so you can get exposure. it is much easier, cheap and perfectly safe.

Answer 3

Depends on how you upload. If it is through something like a blog entry, then it is totally safe, as you control what goes where. If you want to open the door for others to come to you, I would SERIOUSLY reconsider it. This is where exploitation begins in the hacker world...just a crack in the door is all they need.