Virus: Framed a Man for Child Pornography

Child pornography refers to images or films involving and showing sexually explicit activities of a child. It is a multi-billion dollar industry which is the fastest growing criminal segments on the Internet. People accused of child pornography can ruin their reputation, face vast legal bills and be put in prison if proven guilty. Recently, the Associated Press outlined a case raised regarding computer viruses being an instrument to gather child pornography on people’s computers.

Associated Press reported about Michel Fiola’s case. He is a former Massachusetts state employee with a state-owned work computer containing illegal pornography images. After that, he was fired and charged with possession of child pornography.

Children’s sexually explicit images that are being used for exploitation are now protected by the First Amendment. Why is that so? It is because these images invite sexual crimes against the defenseless and innocent children. Although Fiola was not convicted, he has suffered humiliation, death threats and abandonment from his friends. He and his wife also spent $250,000 to pay for legal fees.

Fiola’s defense proved that his computer was infected by a virus. The said virus is programmed to visit as many as 40 child porn sites per minute. Of course, it will be difficult for a human to do that even if he tried. AP also reported that Fiola’s is not using updated antivirus software for his computer that’s why it was not protected from malware.

This could happen to anyone. If viruses can easily put illegal content to computers just like that, all PC users are at risk of being arrested for a serious crime that they don’t really do. According to Symantec, it is definitely possible for malware to plant child pornography or any other type of file on any innocent person’s computer but forensics can detect intention. One of the motives of the malware author is to use someone else’s computer to store child porn and hide it if ever your PC is being seized or searched. You must protect your PC against intrusions for your security. Always make sure that your operating system and software are updated. Be careful on spam and don’t download unknown attachments. Never click on links and don’t provide information to unknown sites.

In these days, viruses can really affect your personal and business life. Like what happened to Michel Fiola, it can also happen to anyone. Viruses can be dangerous. Protect your PC now, don’t let these malware infect your PC or harm you. Contact Techie Now right away! Techie Now’s services offers virus and spyware removal, performance optimization, installation and configuration, and general repair. With Techie, we offer you better services at better price. Techie Now will keep you and your PC clean and protected.