Given that file-sharing does indeed involve the sharing of files, it can be a dangerous practice, resulting in the spread of malware. Security experts should be pleased to hear, then, that LimeWire has teamed up with AVG to give its “Pro”-level users an additional layer of protection.

AVG Offers LimeWire Users Improved Protection

People who don’t approve of file-sharing can view this as a sort of community health issue, perhaps similar to the way homeless individuals are given clean needles free of charge. Having less malware out there should benefit everybody in the end, since viruses don’t just attack folks who break the law.

As for what, exactly, the new deal involves, a formal statement explained, “LimeWire LLC has licensed the AVG Anti-Virus SDK engine and has integrated the anti-virus/ anti-spyware protection into LimeWire Pro, its premium file sharing software. Through this partnership, all files will be scanned before LimeWire Pro will allow them to play or execute on an end user’s computer, which prevents infected files from harming machines.”

Jason Herskowitz, Limewire’s vice president of product management, then said, “LimeWire is committed to providing peer-to-peer’s best user experience and we are vigilant about user security. We are always looking for ways to improve, and with AVG’s seamless integration into LimeWire, we will be providing users with peer-to-peer’s most secure technology.”

The LimeWire-AVG integration should be in effect now, and it doesn’t appear that LimeWire will raise the price of its Pro service ($34.95 per year) as a result.

With any luck, this development will have a noticeable and immediate effect. LimeWire Pro users are likely to be trading lots more files than the average person, after all, so it may not take long for the benefits to become obvious.

The one problem might be if LimeWire Pro users – who are presumably somewhat tech-savvy – already have good security software in place, and it’s regular LimeWire users who represent the real security risk.