IP: Virus Searches for Pornography

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

new rogue computer program, possibly intended to perform a public service, 
has raised thorny legal questions and seems sure to fuel the debate over 
computer privacy.
The new virus, which is called VBS.Noped.a, searches the target's machine 
for what it suspects may be child pornography and reports the names of 
files to the police. There are no reports of police officials acting on 
such results, and antivirus software companies say it has not yet been 
distributed widely and is at relatively low risk of damaging computers.

Technically a worm, the virus is of unknown origin and was spotted by 
computer security companies on May 22. It arrives as an attachment to an 
e-mail message titled, "FWD: Help us ALL to END ILLEGAL child porn NOW." 
When a recipient opens the attachment, child pornography statutes appear on 
screen. The program then searches the user's hard drive for picture files 
that have pornographic-sounding names and then sends an e-mail message and 
a list of suspect files to a law enforcement agency picked at random from 
the program's database.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/11/technology/11VIRU.html



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