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Computers, Porn and Ransom Notes

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  • Computers, Porn and Ransom Notes

    So, a guy - not a member of my Church - came to me in my role as Pastor, knowing that I had a pretty extensive background in computers.

    It took him a while to get around to his question.

    He started with the question about ransomware - how a hacker can put a virus on your computer, and make you pay money to remove it, etc.

    Then it got interesting.

    This particular email threat stated that he had been caught "playing with himself" while viewing a porn site, and they had captured his IP address, turned on his camera remotely, and recorded him.
    It also, allegedly, planted a keylogger, scooped up a list of his contacts, and if he did not send $400, it would send a copy of the video of himself "playing with himself" to everybody on his contact list.
    The email stated "$400 seems like a fair price to save you this humiliation".

    I saw the email - it was very polite, and explained that there's nothing wrong with 'the act', but it would, indeed, be quite embarrassing for all his contacts - possibly even his boss - to see that.

    The guy was quite concerned, while avoiding implicating himself in any way.

    I asked him, "do you usually use a laptop or a desktop when going online". He said he didn't have a laptop computer. I explained, "ok, cause most newer laptops have a camera".
    Then I asked if the monitor he uses has a built in camera - usually not. He looked relieved - no, the monitor he uses 'for that' does not have a camera.

    OK, I continued, do you have any computers that have a camera facing you, that might be turned on remotely? He thought for a minute, then said the only device he has with such a camera is his iPhone, and he never ... um... "views stuff" on his phone.

    I said, "ok, so the threat of somebody sending a video of you doing something embarrassing is pretty much empty, yes?"

    He seemed relieved. But I suggested - "while 'viewing stuff' online, why don't you just pretend that you ARE being recorded, and maybe your behavior will be different". He seemed to think that was a great idea.

    IN CLOSING, I asked him - did you RESPOND to that email, or otherwise OPEN it? He started looking worried all over again. Ooooops! (I knew he opened it, cause he printed a copy to show me)



    Aint' it a crazy world in which we live?
    Last edited by Cow Poke; 02-24-2018, 02:57 PM.
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

  • #2
    Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
    So, a guy - not a member of my Church - came to me in my role as Pastor, knowing that I had a pretty extensive background in computers.

    It took him a while to get around to his question.

    He started with the question about ransomware - how a hacker can put a virus on your computer, and make you pay money to remove it, etc.

    Then it got interesting.

    This particular email threat stated that he had been caught "playing with himself" while viewing a porn site, and they had captured his IP address, turned on his camera remotely, and recorded him.
    It also, allegedly, planted a keylogger, scooped up a list of his contacts, and if he did not send $400, it would send a copy of the video of himself "playing with himself" to everybody on his contact list.
    The email stated "$400 seems like a fair price to save you this humiliation".

    I saw the email - it was very polite, and explained that there's nothing wrong with 'the act', but it would, indeed, be quite embarrassing for all his contacts - possibly even his boss - to see that.

    The guy was quite concerned, while avoiding implicating himself in any way.

    I asked him, "do you usually use a laptop or a desktop when going online". He said he didn't have a laptop computer. I explained, "ok, cause most newer laptops have a camera".
    Then I asked if the monitor he uses has a built in camera - usually not. He looked relieved - no, the monitor he uses 'for that' does not have a camera.

    OK, I continued, do you have any computers that have a camera facing you, that might be turned on remotely? He thought for a minute, then said the only device he has with such a camera is his iPhone, and he never ... um... "views stuff" on his phone.

    I said, "ok, so the threat of somebody sending a video of you doing something embarrassing is pretty much empty, yes?"

    He seemed relieved. But I suggested - "while 'viewing stuff' online, why don't you just pretend that you ARE being recorded, and maybe your behavior will be different". He seemed to think that was a great idea.

    IN CLOSING, I asked him - did you RESPOND to that email, or otherwise OPEN it? He started looking worried all over again. Ooooops! (I knew he opened it, cause he printed a copy to show me)



    Aint' it a crazy world in which we live?
    Simply opening an email isn't going to do anything. Even replying back to it (unless he provided sensitive information) won't trigger much more than more emails. As long as he didn't open any attachments he should have been ok.

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    • #3
      Sorta reminds me of a story my bishop told.

      A teenager came to confession at summer camp (while my bishop was still a priest) and admitted to having a problem with computer porn. He asked the kid, "would you do that while your mother is watching?" The kid: "No!" "Would you do it while Jesus is watching?" "No!" "Jesus is ALWAYS watching." (light bulb goes on) "Oh." "Why don't you get an icon of Jesus, and put it right next to your computer?"

      After a year, he'd gone from 2-3 times a night (while his parents were in bed) to 2-3 times all year. My bishop suggested he upgrade to a larger icon. Next year, he was porn-free.
      Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

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      I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

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      • #4
        Originally posted by One Bad Pig View Post
        Sorta reminds me of a story my bishop told.

        A teenager came to confession at summer camp (while my bishop was still a priest) and admitted to having a problem with computer porn. He asked the kid, "would you do that while your mother is watching?" The kid: "No!" "Would you do it while Jesus is watching?" "No!" "Jesus is ALWAYS watching." (light bulb goes on) "Oh." "Why don't you get an icon of Jesus, and put it right next to your computer?"

        After a year, he'd gone from 2-3 times a night (while his parents were in bed) to 2-3 times all year. My bishop suggested he upgrade to a larger icon. Next year, he was porn-free.
        That's kind of a delicate issue at my Church -- about 10 years ago we had a youth minister who was spending a lot of time in his church office surfing porn. This was before I got there, but the Deacon Chairman had a talk with the guy, and the guy resigned.

        Unfortunately, the kid kinda spread the word that he got railroaded, and the Deacon had too much integrity to tell people exactly why the kid got fired. Parents and youth were pretty upset, but they never knew the real reason he left.

        The Pastor and Deacons only found out about this because he got a virus, and another guy in church was a computer specialist, and discovered the porn.

        When my secretary explained this to me, I gave her my password for my church computer, and told her she's free to use my computer any time at all. My wife has all my passwords for my computer at home. I like the accountability.
        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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        • #5
          It's kind of sad that people assume these days that everybody looks at pornography. I have been accused of lying for saying that I don't because the idea that any man wouldn't is just unthinkable.
          "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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          • #6
            As for the OP, I remember when I was in ninth grade, one of my friends called me up in a panic. He claimed that his computer accidentally logged onto a porn site and now he was overtaken by viruses. I believed the "accidental" nature of what happened about as much as I'm assuming CP believed this guy.
            "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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            • #7
              A former boss of mine (and a friend) used to bring me his laptop all the time when he got viruses and stuff. Once with ransomware on it that I defeated by using system restore. And he would get viruses all the time. So I checked his browsing history and he was going to a lot of porn sites. So I told him that the porn sites he is visiting is what keeps infecting his computer. He seemed a bit embarrassed but he still kept getting infected. sigh.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                A former boss of mine (and a friend) used to bring me his laptop all the time when he got viruses and stuff. Once with ransomware on it that I defeated by using system restore. And he would get viruses all the time. So I checked his browsing history and he was going to a lot of porn sites. So I told him that the porn sites he is visiting is what keeps infecting his computer. He seemed a bit embarrassed but he still kept getting infected. sigh.
                Yeah, when I was IT Director for a gas compression company, some of our offices were way out in the boonies, and satellite internet was all that was available. It was metered, pretty much, and if you went over the data limit, it would get pretty expensive. They needed connectivity to check on units and to send in reports, and the standard data package was plenty.

                A couple of the more remote site FAR exceeded their data usage, and that "budget item" comes out of their district. I had a sit-down meeting with their management, and pointed out the excessive IT expense, and told them it was really easy for me to isolate which shift, and which individual user was chewing up the most data - I suspected porn. Their office manager (my main suspect) got kinda animated, and said "that won't be necessary - I think I know who it is, and I think I can get it to stop".

                It stopped. For a few months.
                The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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                • #9
                  Right now I am using Acronis True Image 2018 for my backups and it has "Acronis Active Protection" that watches files and processes and says it will stop ransomware.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
                    It's kind of sad that people assume these days that everybody looks at pornography. I have been accused of lying for saying that I don't because the idea that any man wouldn't is just unthinkable.
                    Huh. I read on Wikipedia a while ago that usage rates were roughly 70% at least once a month for men aged 18-34 and 30% for women of the same age bracket.
                    Find my speling strange? I'm trying this out: Simplified Speling. Feel free to join me.

                    "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do."-Jeremy Bentham

                    "We question all our beliefs, except for the ones that we really believe in, and those we never think to question."-Orson Scott Card

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