Mass. Man Avoids Malware-Induced Child Porn Trial

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June 16, 2008

Mass. Man Avoids Malware-Induced Child Porn Trial

"What if you unknowingly harbored child pornography on your work laptop? A child pornography possession charge against a former Massachusetts state government employee has been dropped after forensic evidence showed that his machine was infected with various forms of malware that silently drove his browser to the unsavory sites and files.

"The case of Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents investigator Michael Fiola has some chilling ramifications for unwitting, innocent users whose machines may be hiding incriminating evidence that could be used against them.

"Fiola lost his job and friends, and suffered a major blow to his reputation during the investigation that began after he was fired in March 2007 after IT found traces of child pornography on his laptop. IT got suspicious after noting that his wireless usage was four times more than that of his co-workers. His case was dropped before making it to court, after forensic experts found that the child porn traffic and files were driven by malware on his agency-issued laptop."

The good part is that the charges were dropped. The bad part is that thus far that hasn't swayed Massachusetts to give him his job back.

Then there's this:

"Fiola, 53, who family and others say was no technophile, was in the worst-possible situation: His IT department issued him the machine in November 2006 after his previous laptop was stolen, but apparently it wasn't properly configured for the agency's server-based software and security maintenance. Plus, the Symantec Corporate Edition antivirus software on the laptop was never operating correctly while Fiola used the machine."

I wonder if the IT workers who "got suspicious" still have their jobs?

(Link)