Tuesday, June 17, 2008
An employee who lost his job after indecent content was found on a company notebook he was using has been vindicated by the Attorney General's office after forensics revealed that a virus was responsible.
Investigators explained that Michael Fiola, who lost his job at the Department of Industrial Accidents in March 2007, had outdated email security software on his machine.
As a result, multiple viruses, trojans and other malware compromised his system and began to download indecent images on to the company notebook without his knowledge.
Nationally recognized computer forensic analyst Tami Loehrs told the Boston Herald that Mr Fiola's case was one of the worst she had witnessed as an IT security investigator.
Meanwhile, Mr Fiola said the ordeal had been "destroying" his and his wife's lives, with his friends deserting after him after he was fired.
Elsewhere, in a recent Prospect article internet expert Jonathan Zittrain has suggested that virus protection measures are failing as new threats continue to emerge and overrun the internet.
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