Framed for child pornography -- by a PC virus

[Francis2004]

Framed for child pornography -- by a PC virus

Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography.

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.

Whatever the motivation, you get child porn on your computer -- and might not realize it until police knock at your door.

An Associated Press investigation found cases in which innocent people have been branded as pedophiles after their co-workers or loved ones stumbled upon child porn placed on a PC through a virus. It can cost victims hundreds of thousands of dollars to prove their innocence.

Their situations are complicated by the fact that actual pedophiles often blame viruses -- a defence rightfully viewed with skepticism by law enforcement.

"It's an example of the old `dog ate my homework' excuse," says Phil Malone, director of the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. "The problem is, sometimes the dog does eat your homework."

The AP's investigation included interviewing people who had been found with child porn on their computers. The AP reviewed court records and spoke to prosecutors, police and computer examiners.

CTV News | Framed for child pornography -- by a PC virus

So what lurking in your PC / Laptop that you don't know about ? 8O

 

[AnnaG]

Adjust settings to scan and delete porn? Family filters?

 

[spaminator]

its scary how innocent people can get into serious trouble over viruses. :O i thought about upgrading this computer. i hope nothing bad is secretly on it.

 

[Cliffy]

I was called to a mental health clubhouse a few years ago because they discovered kiddy porn on it. It took me hours to get rid of it all. We could not figure how it got there. Perhaps this is the explanation. Since I usually deal with Macs and therefore am not familiar with viruses, I never put that possibility together. That particular PC died shortly thereafter, luckily before the mind police found out.

 

[kryptic]

ahhh yes... windows, isn't it wonderful?

Your best defense is to run Mac OS or Linux. But Mac doesn't have the programs windows does, and Linux is to much of a learning curve for most.

I have been running Windows XP Black Edition, it is a hacked copy of the original, but I have found that it is a lot safer to use, my spyware/malware is almost non existent now, I spend a lot of time doing things that most don't on their computers, without AV running, I put it on yesterday out of boredom, and not a single virus. I'm not sure exactly what was done to this OS but it seems to be a lot less open to abuse. I'm gonna be running Windows 7 in the next few days in virtual box, I'll see how much crap it accumulates with my usage... lol

some tools to help out are:
Spybot
Adaware
CCleaner

and get rid of IE... it is nothing but shiat... run firefox with adblock plus. Google chrome seems to be ok, but I personally don't like it, and adblock don't work on it.

and im in the process of trying Vipre AV software, so far seems to be pretty good. Only been running it 2 days now tho. Eset was on the g/f's computer, it does a good job.


As for virii, I'm not sure how much you people know about them, but to think that AV will stop the new ones is absurd. The virus has to be discovered and then reported to AV software companies before they can make a fix for it.

You would be amazed at the size of some botnets with the 10's of thousands of compromised computers, all with AV running.

Yes, I have played with them, it is unreal the things you can do, from key logging that looks for CC numbers to watching your web cam, all without you knowing.

Oh ya, did I mention that your computer can be used as a file/web/ftp/telnet server at will? lol scary stuff, if your unaware.

 

[spaminator]

is there a black version of windows vista and windows 7?

 

[Francis2004]

is there a black version of windows vista and windows 7?

Your much better off with Linux Ubuntu.. Its free and easy to use.. Just google it..

 

[kryptic]

is there a black version of windows vista and windows 7?

There is of Vista, but Vista is hopeless, it is the biggest piece of crap I have ever used, and wouldn't even use the black version

7 is brand new, I'm sure it will be hacked up eventually. I am running 7 now in virtualbox, and I hate to say it, but I like it so far, far less naggy then vista, and seems to be set up nice, but this is only a few hours for me now. But its a start, vista had me seeing red within an hour lol

 

[kryptic]

Your much better off with Linux Ubuntu.. Its free and easy to use.. Just google it..

Well, Linux is still not 'easy' but yes it is a great OS with tons of help online if you do get stuck

I'm waiting for OpenSUSE 11.2 tomorrow, its going on all my computers

 

[kryptic]

Spaminator: btw, if you do want to check out linux I would recommend you get a 'live cd' or get virtual box. that way you won't hurt your existing system incase you don't like it, or you find it to difficult.

 

[Francis2004]

If your on a PC the best way to test it is to use Hard Drive trays.. That way you can keep both Windows and Linux as you wish..

If your on a Laptop, your choice is much more limited. You need to know what your doing not only software wise but hardware wise with a laptop for either systems.. Either way its your choice. My best suggestion to you is to wait a while for Windows if on a Laptop with limited H/W and S/W knowledge..

 

[gerryh]

ubuntu is a pain in the ass if you are just an average user. It asks for a password whenever ot needs to update, not all drivers are available, and not all "equivilant" apps are available.

I had heard all kinds of wonderfull things about ubuntu remix for netbooks, so |I nuked my hp netbook, installed remix. The install went nice and easy and then the fun started. No sound, no native mp4 support, took more than a few hours to sort all the drivers out. Then it was "lets do some surfing".... what a joke, choppy as h*ll. nuked it again, put XP back on, no problem with drivers, no problem with video or sound support. No longer choppy.

As for windows 7.... of course there's |"black" copies available.

 

[kryptic]

ubuntu is a pain in the ass if you are just an average user. It asks for a password whenever ot needs to update, not all drivers are available, and not all "equivilant" apps are available.

I had heard all kinds of wonderfull things about ubuntu remix for netbooks, so |I nuked my hp netbook, installed remix. The install went nice and easy and then the fun started. No sound, no native mp4 support, took more than a few hours to sort all the drivers out. Then it was "lets do some surfing".... what a joke, choppy as h*ll. nuked it again, put XP back on, no problem with drivers, no problem with video or sound support. No longer choppy.

As for windows 7.... of course there's |"black" copies available.

I put openSUSE 11.1 on my acer netbook, flawless. only thing that didn't work by itself was the wireless, and madwifi cured that.

And it is open source, so the apps aren't what windows are, thats for sure.

as for windows 7 black edition, it is a beta version of windows 7. so I wouldn't be getting it, the RC just came out what a week ago? the guys need a while to redo things.

 

[gerryh]

as for windows 7 black edition, it is a beta version of windows 7. so I wouldn't be getting it, the RC just came out what a week ago? the guys need a while to redo things.

What ever you say.....I'm just a furnace installer after all.

 

[kryptic]

but, with wine, it does emulate a lot of windows programs, and with virtual box, you can run windows from within linux... and it is smoking fast on my amd64 2.5 ghz.

it took me a while to get USB going with windows 7 under vbox tho, found the trick lol.

 

[kryptic]

What ever you say.....I'm just a furnace installer after all.

now now...

I think there is a miss communication, by black edition, I mean a copy that has been ripped apart and the crap removed and repackaged. not just the straight up illegal copy of windows.

 

[DurkaDurka]

Why wait for someone to make a "black version" for you? Black versions usually mean that some services have been disabled and windows bloat removed. Windows 7 is already pretty lean comparatively, there is not as much to strip out as previous versions.

 

[DurkaDurka]

ubuntu is a pain in the ass if you are just an average user. It asks for a password whenever ot needs to update, not all drivers are available, and not all "equivilant" apps are available.

I had heard all kinds of wonderfull things about ubuntu remix for netbooks, so |I nuked my hp netbook, installed remix. The install went nice and easy and then the fun started. No sound, no native mp4 support, took more than a few hours to sort all the drivers out. Then it was "lets do some surfing".... what a joke, choppy as h*ll. nuked it again, put XP back on, no problem with drivers, no problem with video or sound support. No longer choppy.

As for windows 7.... of course there's |"black" copies available.

Laptops usually have proprietary drivers which are not always available for linux or you need to compile and install them your self. I have installed Ubuntu on multiple desktops without problem.

The reason you get the password popups is due to Ubuntu restricting you from working as "root", which is a good thing.

 

[gerryh]

Laptops usually have proprietary drivers which are not always available for linux or you need to compile and install them your self. I have installed Ubuntu on multiple desktops without problem.

The reason you get the password popups is due to Ubuntu restricting you from working as "root", which is a good thing.

:roll:

Like I said, for the average user, it's a pain in the ass. I too have installed it on a few desktops, as a mater of fact I have ubunutu server (web server w/ php, mysql, etc., and ftp server) installed on a machine and ubuntu desktop installed on another with open office. Neither my wife nor my kids will use it because they say it is too difficult to use. My wife refuses to use open office stating that in her opinion it is crap compared to Microsoft office.

 

[DurkaDurka]

:roll:

Like I said, for the average user, it's a pain in the ass. I too have installed it on a few desktops, as a mater of fact I have ubunutu server (web server w/ php, mysql, etc., and ftp server) installed on a machine and ubuntu desktop installed on another with open office. Neither my wife nor my kids will use it because they say it is too difficult to use. My wife refuses to use open office stating that in her opinion it is crap compared to Microsoft office.

Yeah, it certainly isn't as easy to use as windows or mac. In fact, there is little to no reason for the average user to use it. Linux has come a long way in usability but it as a desktop OS it is still for the techies more or less.