Internet Virus Downloads Child Porn on Computers

Aside from destroying personal documents and helping hackers steal identities, computer viruses can also land innocent people in jail.

Recent findings now prove that pedophiles can exploit virus-ridden computers to view child pornography without the fear of getting caught. In fact, pranksters can use the virus to download hundreds of illegal child porn images and videos onto an infected computer.

Most people who are victims of this virus do not realize they have child porn downloaded on their PC until police officials knock on their door. In fact, journalists from the Associated Press investigated this matter and found cases in which innocent people were labeled as pedophiles after their co-workers or family members found the illegal content on their PCs.

It is extremely difficult and costly for a victim to prove his or her innocence. One case involved a Massachusetts man by the name of Michael Fiola.

His boss became suspicious when he came across Fiola’s internet bill for a state-issued laptop. The bill revealed that Fiola had used 4 1/2 times more data than his colleagues. When a technician took a look at the laptop, he found child porn in the PC folder that stores images viewed online. Officials were immediately contacted and Fiola was arrested.

Fiola and his wife liquidated their savings, took a second mortgage, and sold their car to fight the charges. After spending a quarter of a million dollars in legal fees, Fiola was able to prove his innocence. But the ordeal ruined his life.

According to The Huffington Post:

“An inspection for his defense revealed that the laptop was severely infected. It was programmed to visit as many as 40 child porn sites per minute. While Fiola and his wife were out to dinner one night, someone logged on to the computer and porn flowed in for an hour and a half.”

Prosecutors were able to confirm the findings and dropped charges against Fiola. However, by the time the trial was over, he had most of his friends and his life savings.

“It ruined my life, my wife’s life and my family’s life,” he says.

Although it was beyond difficult for Fiola to prove his innocence, cases like this are not rare. According to security software maker F-Secure Corp. about 20 million of the estimated 1 billion internet-connected PCs worldwide are infected with viruses that could give hackers full control to utilize the computer from a remote location.

Where do these viruses come from? There are some adult porn sites that are saturated with harmful bugs. For instance, if a person downloads images and videos from a legal adult site, he or she may also unknowingly download a virus along with them. Computers are also easily infected when a person opens a suspicious email attachment.

The only real way to protect yourself is to be cautious and avoid opening email attachments that seem suspicious. Another good strategy is to have updated anti-virus software on your computer. Also, avid porn consumers should not depend on the internet for their racy content. Take a trip to your local sex shop and purchase a DVD or magazine! It beats taking a risk that can ruin your reputation and your life.