Naughty images likely lurk deep inside your computer’s hard drive

See also: CLICK

6-20-2008 National:

They may seem like trustworthy colleagues, but 80 percent of workplace computers have quietly filed away risque pictures and non-job-related Web pages, “any of which could hang somebody,” cautions one techno-savvy sleuth.

Even for the most diligent desk jockey, “There’s no such thing as a peek, because whether I’m on a site 10 seconds or 10 minutes, whether I saw anything (naughty) or not, the images are on my computer,” said Kevin Ripa, a computer forensic analyst for Advanced Surveillance Group of Michigan.

“When you go to a Web site,” Ripa explained, “even if you go to CNN.com, every piece of the Web site is automatically downloaded on your computer.”

And that, Ripa said, makes all of us dependent upon Internet access vulnerable to a wrongful dismissal based on the appearance of surfing for smut while on the clock.

“It should scare everybody,” Ripa said. “You, as the average user, can’t even see in your computer where this stuff is filed.”

Typing in whitehouse.com or goggle.com instead of google.com used to land unsuspecting Internet users in hard-core hell, Ripa said. In addition, he said, “A lot of respectable sites will use porn ads because pornography pays.

“As soon as you type ‘breast cancer’ into Google, you may get a page you didn’t want to see,” he said, “but now that page is in your computer.”

The bottom line is, computers - like elephants - don’t forget.

Ripa advises companies to have acceptable-use policies for employees working on computers and to frequently remind them what the policy specifies. And if someone in the information technology department is prepared to make serious allegations about a co-worker, their facts better be ironclad.

“I shudder to think how many people may be sitting in jail right now on a child pornography possession charge “who are completely innocent.” ..News Source.. by Laurel J. Sweet