Framed for Child Porn by a PC Virus

Framed for Child Porn by a PC Virus

www.foxnews.com

Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses — the malicious programs better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it's your reputation that's stolen.

Pedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs to remotely store and view their stash without fear they'll get caught. Pranksters or someone trying to frame you can tap viruses to make it appear that you surf illegal Web sites.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is just plain evil. It is one thing to write a virus, which I classify the same as terrorism, but this is even worse. I can't imagine having my life ruined over something so screwed up and being innocent.

When will the madness end? I guess the issue isn't if you are paranoid about computer security, but rather if you are paranoid enough.

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by TLomon


I just got through reading that story.

I can't imagine the hell some of those people are going through because of this virus.

This is what scares me.

How do you prove that it wasn't you that downloaded the images?

What if your credit card gets stolen and is used on a paedo website? In both cases the onus is on you to prove that you did nothing wrong, by which time your reputation has already been trashed and you'll be disowned by everyone that knows you.

Makes me want to stop using the internet altogether - maybe that's the idea!

This is absolutely horrible. I imagine this happens often to be honest. I have surfed the web for porn myself and I cant tell u how many times windows have popped up with 'underage' porn on them. I click out immediately, it's disgusting and in all honesty it kills the mood. Someone told me that if that window pops up and even if u back out of it that the info. is still stored on ur computer and can be retrieved and used as 'evidence' of ur pedophilia??? Not sure if it's true but it certainly has killed my porn surfing! LOL

Mmmm. Well, I searched Alternative News, but didn't think of searching other forums. It looks like this topic, albeit from a different news source, was already posted here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

With regards to the pop-up pictures being used as evidence, they would be found on the computer in temporary internet files. A dishonest DA could use that information to prosecute. It seems they are not always concerned about the truth, but rather the ease of convictions.

You wouldn't have thought proving innocence would be all that hard, seeding doubt is even easier. Police have dedicated units set up specifically to deal with pedos and their computers. Most go to great lengths to hide thier actions, and their ill gotten gains. If none of this obfiscation is present on an "infected" machine, then it is unlikely that the person is a pedo. If they have one infection they will have many infections, and the presence of these will help show the pedo one as just being another infection. How many sane people will carry on using a pc infected to the hilt, it would be practically unusable, and no pedo is likely to cart of a PC full of illegal pics off to some tech dept. to have viruses removed. Just a little bit scaremongerish.

Don't open email attatchments or accept IM file transfers PERIOD.

Don't click on links in emails or forum posts, copy and paste.

Don't download obscure "security" products from the interweb.

If you get a popup and are afraid to click the X (some use this trick), close your browser from TaskManager by ending the process tree, or just get a damn popup blocker that works.

It's not rocket science.

[edit on 9-11-2009 by quackers]

[edit on 9-11-2009 by quackers]

I have often wondered about this. Any computer can get infected by a virus or bot net and become a slave to someone else without the user knowing it. It is very worrisome to think that your computer could be used to do very illegal things (from child porn to launching attacks on the internet) and you would be none the wiser until a federal agent knocks on your door. Fortunately, digital forensic investigators are pretty good at detecting if a virus/bot placed the files on the computer or if you did - but by the time your name is cleared, you probably already missed a lot of work while sitting in a detention facility while the investigators comb the machine and determine if there is a case to charge you with or not.

In order to prevent any of this from happening, all computer users should be well versed in cyber security. Think about the early 70's - people had sex rather freely. You knew to protect yourself if you were traveling overseas or sleeping with somebody sketchy, but in general sex was free. Nowadays you would be insane to randomly hook up with somebody without putting on protection. Everybody that is sexually active should know proper techniques to "play safe" and the ones that don't get burnt.

The same applies to computer usage. If you use a computer a lot, you ought to know how to properly protect yourself. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. So, what can you do to protect yourself from getting viruses that may cause your computer to become some bad guy's slave?

1. Legit version of your OS which is updated frequently (daily if possible).
2. Good antivirus software.
3. A web browser with plug ins to ensure it does not allow malicious scripts to run. (Firefox with Add-Ons: AdBlock Plus, BetterPrivacy, etc)
4. Don't go to questionable sites, and don't install pirated software.
5. If you use WiFi at home, ensure your wireless access point is configured with a good password and use WPA/WPA2 encryption.
6. Do not use a user account which has administrative access to the computer. Use a regular user account for day-to-day activities especially web browsing.


Some more advanced techniques:
A. Run a virtual machine for casual web browsing. VMWare Player may be downloaded for free (registration required) and then you may download VM Appliances such as the Web Browser appliance which is a read-only VM image which resets to default every time you reboot it. Impossible to get infected.
B. Use Black-Ice or some other "system freeze" software to lock down your host OS to prevent any unauthorized changes from happening.
C. "Live light" by storing all important documentation and application configurations on a removable or external drive. Encrypt this data as you see fit (via an encryption utility such as TrueCrypt). If you suspect being infected, reinstall your OS from scratch.

Personally, I am working on building a static base OS (linux in my case) which will have only certain tools and applications installed on it that I use on a day-to-day bases. These tools and apps will mostly be things that I cannot run in a virtual environment too well - like audio/video editing or 3D apps. This base OS will then be locked down to any changes and firewall rules will set up to block all network traffic that does not come from or to one of the virtual machines.

In that base OS, I will have multiple virtual machines which consist of a 'work' one, a 'secure' one and a 'web' one. Each machine will be configured for its specified task. The work one will have all of my admin tools, vpn software and will be used only for when I work from home. The secure one will be used for highly sensitive actions including online banking, personal business and some consulting I do for special clients. The web one will be configured for a rich web experience via Firefox but will not allow many changes to its OS.

There is plenty of technology out there which can be set up to allow you to use the internet safely and without worry. Being concerned about catching a bot and being used for nefarious purposes is the last thing I need, so it is worth a few hours on a rainy day to set up a "fortress" on my computer in order to ensure it is clean and safe. You can too, and you can tailor the solution to your needs.

I read the story and it just made me sick. Like every normal person, I am sickened that anyone gets kicks by looking at child porn, and I would be the first one to throw anyone who produces it into jail.

I think however there is overkill regarding the prosecution of people who simply and possibly through no fault of their own have pornographic images of underage children on their computer. The problem is that while we THINK we own our computer and that it is PRIVATE, the reality is that the minute you connect to the internet your computer is no longer yours.

In the early 1980's, I worked at a company that had a large database of horse pedigree information. We had at the time connections with Tymnet and another network the name of which escapes me. We had an instance of someone "breaking into" our system. It was considered a crime with serious consequences and the FBI investigated the matter. Today if every time anyone "broke into" your computer the FBI had to investigate...well you get the idea.. the FBI would be doing nothing but computer crime investigation.

With things happening to innocent people to the degree which I think is happening, it is time to rethink the way arrest and prosecution is done for the "crime" of simply having images on a computer. How many innocent lives have to be destroyed before we realize we have over stepped the bounds of reason? Could I go to jail, or be prosecuted because one day I let some friend or family member use my laptop who surfed a porno site and some underage images wound up in my temporary internet files?

This story scares the hell out of me and makes me wonder if I should ever travel with my laptop across international borders which I often do. I think it is time that prosecutors and law enforcement focus their attention on finding and stopping the people who CREATE or SELL child pornography and are proven to do so. There are just too many innocent ways YOU could wind up with "illegal" images on your computer..It is a SERIOUS matter that needs quick attention.

I read this article yesterday and it worries me on two fronts. One is that this guy could be lying his but off and did go to a pedo site, the best way to make sure is to check his searching habits. I bet anything that he was going to porn sites but was emphasizing on young women that play teen porn but legal. I can't see that they would burn him on a popup but it he did say that a virus put files on his computer. Another thing that scares me is that it is entirely possible for somebody to put files on your computer. I know people at my place of work that no nothing about their computer systems. They even had their virus program (which is a 30 day protection) go out for at least a year after they bought the computer because they didn't know what to do or it wasn't important. And some didn't have any spyware protection on their computer. They used a "toy" to do their surfing and their emailing but didn't know that their computer wasn't a toy.

I had this happen to me back in 2003. I was looking lesbian info and clicked on the wrong link and boom as this child porn came up. I was trying to get out of it but more just keep popping up then it went to a blue screen saying I was on some sort of watch list.
My internet was cut off and I had to call them to get it reinstated. My computer had to be worked on after that. It never worked the same again. I replaced it a month later.

There is also something even more evil and malicious called a 'cyber porn bomb'. It deliberately targets your computer specifically by someone wanting to discredit you or harm you by placing a huge amount of pornographic images on your computer. Then it just takes an anonymous phone call or email to authorities to let them know you might be a porno related offender.

What's scary is it can be used as a purely political tool to frame innocent citizens that the government or political group has a beef against but are otherwise law abiding citizens.

It pays to have good anti-virus software and to delete unopened emails of an unknown origin.

Eventually a porn bomb attack can be proven through disecting your computer's hard drive but the cost to your reputation and wallet in defending against such an attack can be huge.

It's a good idea to check your computers registries and directories often and make sure you know what's on your computer. Sharing your computer with other people too can have disasterous consequences.

Your computer can be used against you in a Court of Law, it's important to safeguard your computer at all times!

This eventuality will surface to the mainstream with some force soon enough.

The ability to discredit, malign, and/or destroy the reputation of an enemy is far too tempting to expect it will only happen to average users.

When that day comes, the law enforcement establishment will be forced to admit that they have known of this potential for over a decade.

When that can of worms spills over, you can be sure lawsuits will be brought by those who have survived the ordeal of being falsly accused by a device, rather than a person. The law is supposed to constrain accusations so the accused can face the accuser.... but how can you cross examine a machine that is an object or property - held hostage by your prosecutor?

Remember how thousands complained regarding the veracity of breathlyziers and 'speed-gun radars'? Same deal. Whent he secrets come out - people remember who benefitied from the arrests and legal dances.

I'm bumping this because this is a serious matter.
This affects all of us.

That's sick, what if your like a 60 year old man who knows nothing about the internet and then get arrested for doing nothing! It's sad that people stoop to this level, what are they accomplishing by doing this, what are they getting in return? People need to find a better hobby..

Originally posted by spinkyboo
I'm bumping this because this is a serious matter.
This affects all of us.

Yes...it affects us all, but lots of things can go wrong in the world today...so im confused by the necessity of a bump?

But regardless - it should be quite easy to prove that you're Innocent. Of course you'll be arrested first, and endure that embarrassment.

But lets see - your computer has a virus on it - there are logs of external access - and pictures placed so deep in your hard drive that you'd need a digital blood hound to search them out.


Really - the only way you'd be caught for this is if they caught the hacker who put them on your computer.

You'd probably be questioned about it - but ultimately let go with a reformatted harddrive.

I don't understand why people or companies that make malicious software can't be sued or otherwise held accountable.

Last spyware/virus I had, and its a commone one, was one that "hijacks" your pc and wants you to buy their software to get rid of the "infection". Often times hardware or software is damaged as well as personal files lost or destroyed.

I don't see it being much different than someone breaking into your car and damaging/removing items or blocking access to it and leaving a card that says "With ThaLoccster alarms your things would have been safe..."

Maybe the comparison isn't exactly the same, but the idea is relevant.

reply to post by Snarf


The crazy thing is You can be arrested and released but Your life is then ruined beyond repair. There is a middle school teacher around here that got arrested for child porn on His computer. He had to resign immediately, of course. The guy swears hes innocent. IDK if he did it or not but what in the world happens if ur wrongfully accused?? I should be ashamed bcuz I know next to nothing about my computer, I just type stuff in.....bad,bad,bad. LOL