The Disturbing Case of Spyware (and how to stop it from happening to you)
Malicious code can steal user names and passwords or download files. It can render your computer useless, or use your computer for further crimes. It can even annoy you with pop-ups. But for seventh-grade substitute teacher Julie Amero, aged 40 of Windham Connecticut, malicious code may have an even more upsetting consequence: it may cause her to go to jail for a long time.
Uncontrollable Pop-ups?
In October 2004, Amero allegedly "showed" her students pornography at Kelly Middle School. She claimed she could not control the graphic images appearing in an infinite cycle on her computer. "The pop-ups never went away. They were continuous," Amero testified. Because more than ten minors saw the images of naked men and women, Amero was convicted on January 5, 2007 of four counts of risk of injury to a minor, or impairing the morals of a child. She faces up to 40 years in prison, and sentencing is set for March 2, 20071.
State Prosecutor David Smith said he wondered why Amero did not pull the plug on the computer that was displaying the pornography. Others, such as SunbeltBLOG's Alex Eckelberry, were "shocked and dismayed at what is such a clear miscarriage of justice."2
The prosecution bases its case on intent, asserting that Amero intended to access the pornographic Web sites because she had to physically "click" to get to those sites. Security experts argue this isn't so, because pop-ups are also logged as a normal Web site visit, regardless of a physical click. "The boundaries of liability and intent are easily confused when dealing with new technology," says Ivan Macalintal, Senior Threat Researcher at Trend Micro. "At the rate malware writers come up with new schemes and payloads, there's almost no way to tell what's happening and when."
How the porn exposure actually occurred is unclear. Whether faulty content filtering was the culprit, or whether Amero inadvertently accessed pornography that students previously accessed on a school computer is uncertain.
Spyware Protection
In any case, constant updating of antivirus and anti-spyware programs is crucial. Trend Micro recommends the following best practices to protect against spyware and adware:
- Be vigilant-and selective-about what programs you download, install, and store on your computer. Read all end-user license agreements carefully to be sure you are not agreeing to install unwanted software.
- Be equally vigilant about what Web sites you visit. Free gaming, music download, and pornography sites are notorious distributors of spyware and adware.
- Install and regularly run Internet security software that includes antivirus and anti-spyware components.
- Do not disable enterprise antivirus, anti-spyware, or firewall protection.
- Seek technical support if you notice a general system slowdown or unusual presence of pop-up ads on your desktop, or within your browser.
- Keep all Internet security patches up to date.
- Check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to see what level of protection is provided against spyware and adware.
References
- Greg Smith, "Teacher guilty in Norwich porn case," Norwich Bulletin, January 6, 2007, http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070106/NEWS....
- Alex Eckelberry, "Column: Teacher in porn case victim of own ignorance," Norwich Bulletin, January 20, 2007, http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070120/OPINION....
