The perils of P2P?

Hartje claims that many pirates are irresponsibly uploading malware along with their cracked goods to BitTorrent.

"They may not be running a clean shop, and don't care if viruses are on the software," she says.

IDC researchers used popular antivirus packages from McAfee Inc. and Symantec Corp. to detect malware. However, the researchers did not differentiate between more serious viruses and spyware and less harmful unwanted code such as adware. IDC also conceded that some P2P networks deploy built-in virus scanning that "strip[s] out most of the malicious software" before it reaches users.

Some skeptics say that Microsoft's "education" campaign is primarily an attempt to sow FUD -- fear, uncertainty and doubt -- in the minds of consumers, a tactic the company has been called out for in the past, and which could backfire.