Computer virus caused man to be caught wit kiddie porn

[imthemom]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,369532,00.html
Computer malware may have cost a former Massachusetts civil servant his job, his friends, his health insurance, his pension — and nearly his freedom.
Michael Fiola entered his own personal hell in March 2007 when his boss at the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents told him that a large amount of pornography, including kiddie porn, had been found on his state-issued laptop — and that he was being fired immediately.
"It felt like the blood drained right from my body," Fiola told PC World magazine. "I never expected anything like this to happen."
Four months later, the state charged him with possession of child pornography, charges that carried a penalty of 30 months in prison.


This is a scary thing. I wonder how this happens. This man's life was runied. I hope he can get back on track.

[tigger3z]

You never relize what can happen when you surf! Best never to use a business computer to surf the web! This is scary.

[MeoW333]

So was a pervert using this man's computer to store his own porn on it via another computer and hacking? You'd think it would be hard to break into a company computer; yet some of these hackers are real whiz's out there..

[altruist1000]

I actually saw this piece on our local news & at its conclusion, hearing that the man would not be offered his job back even though it was confirmed by the State of MA own computer forensic professionals, that this poor man could have very well been set up by somebody in his own department or his boss.

IMO, this man should have been rehired with an apology. There's something very sinister going on with this situation, it appears that the firing authority didn't anticipate that a computer forensic specialist would be hired & that this man would fight to prove his innocence. I'm glad that he & his wife made that decision & they are suing the state of MA & will probably WIN BIG. IMO, the firing authority should be demoted to a position they are more suited for as it doesn't seem that the situation was investigated at all & although not a computer specialist at all I even know that these viruses can be sent within an email & you have no way to know the material is even there, so there should have been no rush to judgement although I can understand being shocked initially but then one needs to be responsible & fair minded if in a managerial position. It's not rocket science.

As a taxpayer of the state I hope the Governor's Office becomes involved here as this has not been handled properly at all.

[SuziQ]

How awful. Wasn't there a case recently where another man has gone through the same thing because someone was accessing his wireless connection? All LE saw was this poor guys ISP connected to child porn and they arrested him.

Scary when you think about it. I know once in a blue moon my wireless network locates someone elses (probably one of my neighbors) and asks if I want to use it.

[hmg]

What an awful case. A few years ago I saw a similar thing happened to a teenager in the west (AZ maybe?). He had visited some regular porn sites but that opened up his computer to hackers who used it to host child pornography.