Child Porn PC Virus--And We Thought Identity Theft Was The Worst It Could Get
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
by Sandra E. Graham
My Books and Articles
Just when we were thinking it was safe to go back on the computer, we are informed of another PC virus threat--- Child Porn Virus! It has been discovered that pedophiles or just malicious hackers can put a virus on your computer that will open hundreds of illegal child porn web sites and load your computer down with child pornography while you go innocently, unsuspecting about your business. Suddenly the police are at your door and your world is turned inside out and upside down. And the bad thing about all this, is that true pedophiles use this as a defense when they get caught.
An investigation has shown that many innocent people have been branded as pedophiles after their family, employers, or co-workers have found pornography on their infected computers. A Massachusetts man found out just how real this threat can be when, unknowingly, his computer became infected with a virus that was programmed to visit as many as 40 porn sites per minute. His bosses became suspicious when his company supplied laptop showed that he used 4-1/2 times more data space than any of his co-workers. The man was fired, arrested, and spent over $250,000 on defense lawyers. It wasn't until after all this that he was finally cleared of the charges when his computer was discovered to be severely infected.
Of the estimated one billion Internet connected PC's worldwide, about twenty million are already infected with viruses that can remotely control many different functions of the computer. Viruses can enter your computer in a number of ways---most commonly through opened emails or visiting malicious web sites.
"They're kind of like locusts that descend on a cornfield: They eat up everything in sight and they move on to the next cornfield," says Eric Goldman, academic director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University.
Goldman has represented Web companies that discovered child pornographers were abusing their legitimate services. The first publicly known cases were discovered in the United Kingdom when two men were cleared after their computers were proven to be infected by the viruses in 2003. So, this threat is not something new, it just may not have been as well publicized as we would like to have it. It is certainly something that we should all be aware of and keep our guard up against.
Since that time, there have been many cases of child pornography viruses that have caused many innocent people to lose custody of their children, loss of jobs, loss of family and friends; not to mention the blight on their reputations. In all these cases, the central evidence was not in dispute---the porn was there. The hard part was proving how it got there.
Many prosecutors say blaming a computer virus for child porn is a new version of an old ploy.
"We call it the SODDI defense: Some Other Dude Did It," says James Anderson, a federal prosecutor in Wyoming.
It can be impossible to tell with certainty how a file got onto a PC.
"Computers are not to be trusted," says Jeremiah Grossman, founder of WhiteHat Security Inc. He describes it as "painfully simple" to get a computer to download something the owner doesn't want - whether it's a program that displays ads or one that stores illegal pictures. It's possible, Grossman says, that more illicit material is waiting to be discovered.
The only thing a person can really do is use the best anti-virus protection available and hope it is enough.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)There are other things that can be done.Being responsible for what is on your computer means more than just having an anti-virus program and hoping. Not using Internet Explorer is a great start. It's not that Internet Explorer is necessarily less secure, it's just that everyone using one browser makes it very easy to target. Opera, Chrome, and Firefox are all excellent alternatives, and all of them offer security just in being different.Acquiring malware defense and learning how to use it, as well as a firewall will also help tremendously.The biggest problem with the general public when it comes to computers is ignorance. They don't feel they should have to learn about computers to use them. Unfortunately, that's no more the reality with computers than anything else.
If the government would focus more on the people that produce the child pornography, this wouldn't be such a huge problem. Not to say that pedophiles aren't wrong, but no one is entirely sure that anyone can control what they are attracted to. You can be certain, however, that whoever took the photographs, loaded them into the computer, and posted them somewhere for distribution, had every bit of control over their actions.
Kudos to you for putting this out there as far as you can, though, Sandra. It is a situation people should fear, that's certain.Thank you, Ferret, for the positive feedback. And you are absolutely right, computer illiteracy is a big problem in keeping viruses from infiltrating our computers. Thanks for reading and commenting.SandraHow many times a day do I hear from people "I don't get computers, never have"?Probably quite a lot. It seems no matter what great new inventions we come up with, there are those who can use them for illegal gain.Thanks for commenting, Geilt. And Welcome to Searchwarp.Sandra
A great article, very informative and hopefully it will encourage people to step up their computer security...not just to protect themselves from potentially having their lives ruined by false accusations of paedophilia but also to minimise the ability of actual paedophiles to use this as a "get-out" and blame the virus for their own illegal downloading of child porn.Everyone reading this should check they have up to date anti-virus software (AVG and Avast! are free, so there's no excuse for going unprotected).It's also very important to have a firewall up and running - Windows XP, Vista and 7 all have built in firewalls, so if you have those make sure they are turned on (unless you have installed a different firewall to use instead).If you have a firewall built into your router, make sure that is on too - a combination of hardware and software firewalls is better protection than either by itself.On the subject of routers - if you've left yours set with the default password, change it NOW!There's free anti-malware programs you can get for added protection - SUPER AntiSpyware, Spybot Search&Destroy and Spyware Blaster. Be sure to download only from legitimate sites, and be sure to research the program you are considering before installing it - there's a lot of fake "anti-malware" software that is actually malware!As well as all the above, if you have a wireless network, make sure it is secure. With most you can choose the security type to use - WEP is (slightly) better than nothing, but WPA or WPA2 are much MUCH more secure.Some great info, Ben. Thanks for sharing.Sandra
I cant beilive this happend good articalThanks, Miss Cheyanne. Have a good day.Sandra
i believe that if people would stay off of sites they dont belong on then they woudnt get viruses like that.love youVery true, Miss Brittany. You never know what you can get into. Don't ever open an email that you don't recognize the person sending it.Thanks for reading and commenting.Sandra
Sandra - this is an excellent piece. Very well thought out and well written.Well, thank you, Andy. And welcome to Searchwarp.Sandra
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