BANGALORE, INDIA: 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. Paedophiles 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 websites.

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 paedophiles after their coworkers 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 defense rightfully viewed with skepticism by law enforcement.

One case involved Michael Fiola, a former investigator with the Massachusetts agency that oversees workers’ compensation. In 2007, Fiola’s bosses became suspicious after the internet bill for his state-issued laptop showed that he used 4 1/2 times more data than his colleagues. A technician found child porn in the PC folder.

Fiola was fired and charged with possession of child pornography, which carries up to five years in prison. He endured death threats and he was shunned by friends. Fiola and his wife fought the case, spending $250,000 on legal fees. They liquidated their savings, took a second mortgage and sold their car. An inspection for his defense revealed the laptop was severely infected. It was programmed to visit as many as 40 child porn sites per minute — an inhuman feat. 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 performed another test and confirmed the defense findings. The charge was dropped — 11 months after it was filed.

At any moment, about 20 million of the estimated 1 billion internet-connected PCs worldwide are infected with viruses that could give hackers full control, according to security software maker F-Secure Corp.

Paedophiles can tap viruses in several ways. The simplest is to force someone else’s computer to surf child porn sites, collecting images along the way. Or a computer can be made into a warehouse for pictures and videos that can be viewed remotely when the PC is online.

But paedophiles need not be involved: Child porn can land on a computer in a sick prank or an attempt to frame the PC’s owner. In the first publicly known cases of individuals being victimized, two men in the UK were cleared in 2003 after viruses were shown to have been responsible for the child porn on their PCs.

(Source: AP)