Correct Directory Permissions

Hi-
I just finished my first install of P|P and it went perfectly.
One item I am nervous about is that 5 directories are now set at 777 and seem to need to remain that way in order for the application to run, even after the install. Is this correct? If so, aren't their some security risks having all these directories writable by anyone? Is there something I should do to make sure these don't get hijacked for filesharing?

Thanks for all your hard work on this great app.

-Z