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Virus on notebook cost employee his job

A US state employee has discovered the importance of having the correct anti-virus protection after narrowly escaping jail on child pornography charges, according to the Boston Herald.

Michael Fiola’s ordeal has been described by his lawyer as "one of the most horrific cases I've seen" after he was fired and subsequently charged for having indecent pictures of children on his state-issued laptop.

According to experts, 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."

Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney said: "The overall forensics of the laptop suggest that it had been compromised by a virus."

Fiola's lawyer Timothy Bradl warned everyone with a computer was at risk.

He said: "Anybody who has a work laptop, this could happen to. Mike Fiola is a hunt-and-peck kind of computer guy. He can barely get on the Internet."

Experts warn ignorance can be disastrous and users should be aware of the various online threats their machines face.

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