Man Cleared Of Charges, Malware To Blame

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I hope this guy sues the hell out of the state of Massachusetts for huge amounts of money. Nothing can repair the damage of being fired for child porn but a big fat settlement is a good start.

His laptop initially attracted attention because its wireless usage was four times higher than that of his co-workers. But because the IT department hadn't properly configured the agency laptop and antivirus software wasn't working on the machine, it was riddled with Trojans and viruses, in addition to the malicious software that was bringing up the porn sites.
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The whole damn IT department should be fired since they apparently can't do the job properly.
 
Yeah, the guy definitely deserves compensation for the ordeal. I can't imagine how he would impacted financially and emotionally.
 
I'd be embarrassed and extremely pissed off if that ever happened to me.

Talk about getting compensated for "pain and suffering", though. :)
 
I disagree with everyone so far. He deserves to have been fired. If I were at work and my computer was popping up porn sites and I didn't report it to IT to get it fixed I would be fired too. Same goes for everyone especially the computer illiterate people, that's why you have an IT department to fix these problems. Apparently he was having porn pop up on his computer for MONTHS not days. As far as I am concerned he was enjoying his porn cause he did not take action to get it fixed, that in my opinion is what got him fired.
 
Reminds me of that substitute teacher who was facing charges for porn pop-ups during class. That was also bad because she wasn't the only user of the computer and had no say over setting it up for security (if she even could). She was initially convicted and later had the conviction tossed.

LOL "Amero"
 
JUSTJOEL73 said:
I disagree with everyone so far. He deserves to have been fired. If I were at work and my computer was popping up porn sites and I didn't report it to IT to get it fixed I would be fired too. Same goes for everyone especially the computer illiterate people, that's why you have an IT department to fix these problems. Apparently he was having porn pop up on his computer for MONTHS not days. As far as I am concerned he was enjoying his porn cause he did not take action to get it fixed, that in my opinion is what got him fired.
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Hmm thats an interesting point of view. I read the article on the dark reading site as well as cnet and im not sure how you came to that conclusion. The article states IT failed to properly configure the computer for the agencys server based security software, failed to properly implement the antivirus software, failed to communicate with the laptop for a period of three and a half months, and did not manage to find the problem even when this guy reported the problems to them.
 
Yep, government morons running amouk.

Sue the state for criminal negligence and willful negligence for A) not setting up thier computer correctly ie: non-negligently and B) for making him use it as part of his job requirement without proper safeguards.

Im from MA but the only way this gets properly fixed is if the State gets FUCKED.

Proper fucked, Jack? Yes PROPER FUCKED Tommy. :eek::rolleyes::p

That was for my fellow "Snatch" fans. :cool:

Some of my idiot friends over the years have gotten similar monster infections, imagine taking the PC in to Geek SQ or whom ever to get fixed, and having the cops bust you for kiddie pron, and having your life fucked over.

It's like the whole Child Care center mass abuse frenzy from "recovered" memories insanity of years ago. Sure, there are some legit offenders, but then there are many who are innocent and hanged for bullshit derived from other's screwups and bullshit.
 
It might not have been pop-ups? It could have been some application that ran in the background. Anyway it must have been hell, having everyone you know abandon you and he was probably getting funny looks from the community where he lived. Being labeled a pedophile is almost worse than being labeled a murderer. I hope the friends will come back, but I don't know if he should take them back when the abandoned him.
 
dagas said:
It might not have been pop-ups? It could have been some application that ran in the background. Anyway it must have been hell, having everyone you know abandon you and he was probably getting funny looks from the community where he lived. Being labeled a pedophile is almost worse than being labeled a murderer. I hope the friends will come back, but I don't know if he should take them back when the abandoned him.
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Almost nothing.....it is way worse than meing labeled a murderer. I dont know what I would do put I would be super pissed, I guess tons of cash would make me happy :D
 
JUSTJOEL73 said:
I disagree with everyone so far. He deserves to have been fired. If I were at work and my computer was popping up porn sites and I didn't report it to IT to get it fixed I would be fired too. Same goes for everyone especially the computer illiterate people, that's why you have an IT department to fix these problems. Apparently he was having porn pop up on his computer for MONTHS not days. As far as I am concerned he was enjoying his porn cause he did not take action to get it fixed, that in my opinion is what got him fired.
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There was no porn popping up, what even caught the attention of the IT department was that his Verizon wireless bill was 4 times higher than what it should've been.
The Boston Herald said:
the laptop was running corrupted virus-protection software, and Fiola was hit by spammers and crackers bombarding its memory with images of incest and pre-teen porn not visible to the naked eye... All the porn, she said, was located in the laptop’s cache, a computer feature that stores copies of Web pages. Consistently, Loehrs’ findings noted, there was “no apparent origin or user interaction preceding the pornographic activity,” some of which was downloaded “fast and furious.”
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To me the most fucked up part of all this was this:
The Boston Herald said:
DIA spokeswoman Linnea Walsh confirmed Fiola “was terminated,” but declined to say if any internal discipline has been meted out as a result of his name being cleared in court.

“We stand by our decision,” she said.

Fiola’s attorney Timothy Bradl is at a loss to understand why.

“Imagine this scenario: Your employer gives you a ticking time bomb full of child porn, and then you get fired, and then you get prosecuted as some kind of freak,” he railed.
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Fiola will get rich if he sues, but though found innocent, he will always carry that stigma. It is one of those crimes where just the accusation ruins you.
 
I agree, not only is his name going to be always associated with it, what does that do to you love life. I am suprised his wife stood by him. This is a pretty screwed up way to go out tho.....Like someone said in TFA, once someone mentions child porn, common sense goes out the window and people get in a tizzy without proof.

I feel for the guy.
 
Uhh...I would like to point out, that 99% of porn popups and malware is gotten through...yep, porn sites. Not saying he is guilty, but it's not like normal and legal (albeit annoying) adware bundles kiddie porn popups...
 
xX_Jack_Carver_Xx said:
Yep, government morons running amouk.

Sue the state for criminal negligence and willful negligence for A) not setting up thier computer correctly ie: non-negligently and B) for making him use it as part of his job requirement without proper safeguards.
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You forgot the biggest two: emotional duress and wrongful termination. Negligence suits are the minor part of that deal.
 
the truly sad part:

“Our lives have been hell,” said Fiola, a former state park ranger now living in Rhode Island. “I hope to recover my reputation, but our friends all ran.”
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Money can't repair that. I hope he gets a sackload of cash.
 
I do not understand those who think this poor guy is in anyway responsible for any of this. Based on both articles his machine was not properly configure by the IT guys and was promptly compromised. Then the man, a newb user really, was fired and his name and reputation destroyed by the same inept IT department that failed to secure his laptop. But hey, the cought his excess wireless useage which tells me they're more about cutting costs that actually securing their systems. What I want to know is how much confidential state governemtn information was compromised in this. The man was a fraud investigator after all.

Also: you do NOT need to visit a porn site or other questionable site to get infected with malware. If you think that then you're just sadly naive.

When an IT department deploys network connected machines users who see use them merely as tools, and not as toys or "rigs" an in fact know nothing of how they actually work it is the duty of the IT department to secure those machines. Period.

The ban-hammer needs to fall on the MA IT wankers whos incompetence allowed this to happen.
 
Did you guys even read the article?

Here is an excerpt from DarkReading.com

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.

“For three-and-a-half months, IT never once communicated with that laptop, so it had nothing to monitor or maintain it,” says Tami Loehrs, the forensic expert who investigated Fiola’s laptop and concluded that there was no evidence he had engaged in the activity nor knew the files were on his machine.

Loehrs, who is president of Law2000, says she found just about “everything” when it came to malware on Fiola’s laptop. “I even found a script file running its own searches. There were Trojans opening the computer to be hacked, viruses redirecting Websites and bringing up porn Websites,” she says.

“You could see him logging in to do work and all of a sudden, a porn image would appear,” Loehrs says. “They would just start appearing only because he had opened his laptop and he was now connected to the outside.”

There were no signs of Fiola himself actually typing in a URL to one of the sites or directing his browser there. Instead, the malware on his machine as well as a possible remote attacker were doing the dirty work and storing cached images of child porn, according to Loehrs. Another indication of Fiola’s innocence, according to Loehrs, was that there were no files actually stored on his computer, which true child porn criminals typically do. “All of the files were cached in his temporary Internet files” in his browser, she says. “We would log into his work Website... and things would appear on his temporary Internet cache.”

So we have an IT department that messed up. Lets face it IT departments mess up all the time. The problem is his stupidity in not reporting his problems to IT. And yes he had pop ups, and everything else imaginable this is according to his own expert witness.
Sue the state????? Who really pays? WE DO!!! Why don't we all hand him some of our hard earned money because he was too stupid or ignorant. Bottom line, he was negligent as a state employee and had no business being an "Industrial Accidents investigator". Where was the accountability for his computer? I have always believed civil servants should be held to a high standard not a lower standard. If you can be fired from a public sector job for the same thing(which is a fact), you should be held to at least the same accountability level working for the government.
 
JUSTJOEL73 said:
So we have an IT department that messed up. Lets face it IT departments mess up all the time. The problem is his stupidity in not reporting his problems to IT. And yes he had pop ups, and everything else imaginable this is according to his own expert witness.
Sue the state????? Who really pays? WE DO!!! Why don't we all hand him some of our hard earned money because he was too stupid or ignorant. Bottom line, he was negligent as a state employee and had no business being an "Industrial Accidents investigator". Where was the accountability for his computer? I have always believed civil servants should be held to a high standard not a lower standard. If you can be fired from a public sector job for the same thing(which is a fact), you should be held to at least the same accountability level working for the government.
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Fine, then let him remain fired. If we are firing on incompetence here, then the IT staff, as well as those who began criminal proceedings against him with out bothering to properly investigate should go with him. Bottom line, they did NOT properly investigate the case, and then brought charges against him. Had they performed in a competent manner, the police dept's computer forensics team would have figured out that he was innocent, and the DA would never have brought charges. This matter would not be public, and Fiola would merely be looking for another job. He would not have to carry the baggage of this accusation around for the rest of his life. He still has plenty to sue over if you ask me.
 
While we are at it, was it obvious (real) child porn, or the maybe she is 17, maybe she is 18 or 21 or 25, well we ain't sure, so you are going to jail unless you can find her and prove she was over 18, that passes for child porn under our legal system? It is a guilty til proven innocent crime.

Not defending the bastards that do that sort of shit. But damn, it is harder to get convicted for petty larceny with the stolen item in your hand when you get picked up than it is for the mere appearance of the possibility of underage naked pictures on a pc you have come into contact with.

Many people are always going to think he just beat the rap. His ability to gain employment, his social status, and those of his family have been irreparably damaged by the incompetence of the IT staff, police, and DA's office. They should pay for that accordingly.
 
So we have an IT department that messed up. Lets face it IT departments mess up all the time. The problem is his stupidity in not reporting his problems to IT. And yes he had pop ups, and everything else imaginable this is according to his own expert witness.

Sue the state????? Who really pays? WE DO!!! Why don't we all hand him some of our hard earned money because he was too stupid or ignorant.

Bottom line, he was negligent as a state employee and had no business being an "Industrial Accidents investigator".

Where was the accountability for his computer? I have always believed civil servants should be held to a high standard not a lower standard. If you can be fired from a public sector job for the same thing(which is a fact), you should be held to at least the same accountability level working for the government.
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Bold1: "IT Departments screw up all the time" is no defense for them. It doesn't matter what the standard for an IT department is, fact is, they screwed up, and are equally at fault. You don't hand someone a 40 of vodka and give them their car keys the first time they drive... You don't give a computer illiterate person an unsecured laptop. Additionally, to the new computer user, porn popups and federal charges/termination usually don't go hand in hand. MOST Computer users will click out of them, very few realize they can be a federal offense. Most will close them and get their work done, not wanting to go through the pains of an IT visit. Did you ever think that he might have been embarrassed by what was on his computer, and figured if he told nobody, they wouldn't find out?

Bold2: So, just because someone has to pay for his damage, an unjustice should go uncompensated? You can be DAMNED well sure you'd be singing a different tune if YOU were in his position.

Bold3: It doesn't matter what his job is.

Bold4: It's called wrongful dismissal. If you're fired from the private sector, and can prove what you did wasn't in violation of your hiring TOS, you win back wages and potentially your job back.
 
“Our lives have been hell,” said Fiola, a former state park ranger now living in Rhode Island. “I hope to recover my reputation, but our friends all ran.”


money will fix that!


//a friend in need is a friend indeed
/// would still not take them back
////should ask for a formal apology with a document stating that these have been dropped, and assurance that this will not haunt him in the future.
 
if his friends ran they weren't true friends that for sure! good ridden's

his wife stood by him because she believe him, something they call love these days... not just believe anything pack up and run.
 
InorganicMatter said:
Uhh...I would like to point out, that 99% of porn popups and malware is gotten through...yep, porn sites. Not saying he is guilty, but it's not like normal and legal (albeit annoying) adware bundles kiddie porn popups...
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What he said!!
 
Hmmm....sounds like a mess of screw-ups. If it had as much malware/viruses on it as they say, why were no IDS alarms going off all over the place within the MA network? If I lived in MA I might be a bit more worried about that then this guy getting money for being fired.
 
i dunnno i'm still a bit sceptical... i mean i've seen heaps of trojan/virus riddled machines come through my work.. but never seen kiddie porn on any of them..... i thought kiddie porn was more underground than that??
 
it could probably be proven based on where it came from and alternate sources. and if they actualy hired a professional as they say there would probably be some form of evidence. not just pictures.

i think he's entitles to everything, at this time in america especially . pedophilia is one of the biggest crimes and concerns it will ruin your life, and this happened 1 or 2 years ago ? i bet he suffered a ton. and if he can be proven innocent beyond a doubt he deserves every penny.

of course if he's guilty he should be kicked in the nuts and thrown into a lava pool.
 
InorganicMatter said:
Uhh...I would like to point out, that 99% of porn popups and malware is gotten through...yep, porn sites. Not saying he is guilty, but it's not like normal and legal (albeit annoying) adware bundles kiddie porn popups...
Click to expand...

yea i was just about to post the same thing..

granted this is much more difficult to prove and wouldn't be enough for any jury to award him money..

but its pretty much a given that the best way to get a virus/trojan/whatever is to visit those sites to begin with..

but then again you'd have to look at the specific state laws to see if he can even bring a suit..

in our state, being a right to work state, an employer can pretty much fire you for no reason..
 
GORANKAR said:
While we are at it, was it obvious (real) child porn, or the maybe she is 17, maybe she is 18 or 21 or 25, well we ain't sure, so you are going to jail unless you can find her and prove she was over 18, that passes for child porn under our legal system? It is a guilty til proven innocent crime.

Not defending the bastards that do that sort of shit. But damn, it is harder to get convicted for petty larceny with the stolen item in your hand when you get picked up than it is for the mere appearance of the possibility of underage naked pictures on a pc you have come into contact with.

Many people are always going to think he just beat the rap. His ability to gain employment, his social status, and those of his family have been irreparably damaged by the incompetence of the IT staff, police, and DA's office. They should pay for that accordingly.
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These days "child porn" basically means "any picture you have of a child on your PC that the district attorney or government doesn't think you should have".

This guy is screwed for life, even if he won and received a trillion dollars for it, people will only remember his name as being splattered all over the media as a child porn loving freak.

In my opinion, defendents in child porn and child molestation cases should remain as anonymous as the alleged child victims until there is a conviction. Once somebody is accused and acquitted of such charges the way it works now, their life is just as ruined as any rape victims, even moreso. At least rape victims get sympathy. For the most part if somebody is acquitted of this kind of crime, most people just think they were guilty and think they got off somehow.
 
gaspah said:
i dunnno i'm still a bit sceptical... i mean i've seen heaps of trojan/virus riddled machines come through my work.. but never seen kiddie porn on any of them..... i thought kiddie porn was more underground than that??
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Just like any malware, you never know what you can pick up.. I am sure there are some nasty ones out there downloaded through other malware. And just because it downloaded to the hard drive doesn't mean it actually displayed it either.

Of course, without actually seeing their evidence, who knows what they were considering "child porn", since the definition slides around more than a drunken polar bear with greasy paws on a sheet of ice.
 
InorganicMatter said:
Uhh...I would like to point out, that 99% of porn popups and malware is gotten through...yep, porn sites. Not saying he is guilty, but it's not like normal and legal (albeit annoying) adware bundles kiddie porn popups...
Click to expand...

while i agree there are huge holes in that story... i dont agree that it 99% is from porn sites exclusively... i've had computers from middle-aged ladies (who have no other users on their pc).. ladies that are hugely offended by porn... riddled with spyware and porn-site popups... because they are the type to be sucked in by 'special' offers... click here for your free ipod? ring a bell... wanting a free ipod.. while deluded.. isnt misbehaving as such...
 
I hope he gets a boat load of cash. People are very quick to ruin others reputation when it comes to things like this.
 
So lets see, burden of proof was not met by the state. Does that mean he didn't do it, no. It means the state did not meet the requirements to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was guilty. (by the way OJ didn't do it we still have to look for the real killers)

I have had to clean some computers riddled with porn/viruses and all the users told me straight out they got them from going to porn sites. I would say 99% of infections like the one described come from going to porn sites. (strangely enough those porn riddled computers were not loaded with any kiddie porn) I personally haven't come across any little old ladies with porn riddled computers. If his system has as bad as his expert claims, there was no way he would not have known there was something wrong with his computer. His computer would have been crippled in functionality and been almost unuseable. Was he embarassed to report it, sure let me stick my head in the sand til the problem fixes itself. I have tech illiterate guys come to me every day about this or that stupid question. Couldn't he have asked someone else who knew more about computers? Ignorance is not a defence in this country or at least it didn't use to be. He was responsible for the computer issued to him. If he didn't make it his problem to learn more about computers thats on him. How many jobs out there do not require you to upgrade your skills? The use of the " I am not computer savvy" defence holds no water i my opinion.

Once again we should not reward those who are lazy, ignorant or just plain stupid. If he is unable to get another job, I think it is because of his lack of computer skills. By the way OJ should sue the state of California for tarnishing his image since the court found him innocent.
 
What exactly is the IT department responsible for then? Some people here would have us believe that they are not responsible for properly setting up security and anti-virus, checking in on company machines to make sure they are in fact connecting to the security server, nor properly investigating any network problems.

I can't help but think that some opinions here are just a tad biased...
 
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