Coworker..trojan virus... adult friend finders?

Question

Hey. Let me get you caught up.

I work in a dealership and my coworker (who I dont really enjoy) caught a trojan virus on his computer. Along with about 38 other viruses and close to 300 adware and spyware. My boss asked me to clean it up and asked me privately if it was porn. I said i didnt know. Well today I was finishing cleaning it up and of course... I found adult friend finders and the like. Now this not only makes me really uncomfortable at my job, being a teenage and my co-worker being in his late 40's/50's but I also don't know how to approach my boss with this information.

How would you handle it and what should I do to make sure Im not in any danger. Usually its just me and him at the workplace. Thanks in advance for your help.

Alright just to get this clear, it was not caught from other sites. If I can rid a computer of a virus do you think I cant figure this out aswell? I realize adultfriendfinders.com is a dating service, along with the lavalife.com and the ashleymadison.com found but the was material found as well that was not appropriate for the workplace. I dont care if those naked bodies are for "dating" purposed it is still not right. Not at work anyways.

Answer 1

As has been said, AFF cookies can be picked-up from any number of "non-adult" sites. If he's ever visited Lavalife for one site, he could have caught it there.

Simply typing in his e-mail account on a seemingly innocuous website, or if he sends his e-mail address as an active link in his outbound e-mails, there are bots that can grab them and use them to send e-mails to from "inappropriate" or even fraudulent sites.

The presence of the trojan and ad/spyware muddies the problem. You will have to check the activity logs in the company's server (if any), or on the computer itself to see how much time...and when...he was on the sites in question. Make sure you print the logs. Also make sure you find and remove all "Shadow" (aka "Slave") programs. They can allow anyone with the Master to call-up the computer's IP address and dowload files or execute programs without you knowing about it.

Don't forget, simply finding nudes in the cache does not mean he's been surfing X rated sites. After all, type "teen" into a search engine looking for boy/girl bands, and you'll be inundated with porn. A friend of mine did that about 5-6 years back, and spent 10 minutes closing pop-up windows before he contacted the Computer Operator on duty and advised him what had happened.

If you have evidence that he *may* be visiting inapporpriate sites, advise your boss that you do not know if your co-worker is guilty of surfing porn at work, but that there are programs that can prevent it, and that the malware you found could have downloaded what you found. In particular, subscribing to a good AV company, and picking up pop-up, adware, and spyware blocking programs.

If you can find inconvertible proof that he is doing it, by all means, bring it to your boss's attention. In any case, if your company has a *written* policy against mis-use of company computers to surf porn, your co-worker can be fired. If the policy is un-written, he will win the forthcoming wrongful dismissal suit if your boss fires him.

As to make yourself safe...sign-up for some self defense courses - there are *many* jurisdictions where persons of your gender can take the class free of charge. Until you start feeling comfortable, have someone, preferably a large male person you are comfortable with, pick you up. Keep your cell (if you have one) handy. If absolutely necessary, ask a local law enforcement type to teach you to use mace/pepper spray properly (which will also involve you being sprayed so you know what it is like), and carry a single-use can with on your belt, at all times.

Oh, incidentally, if he's been "chatting" on inappropriate sites, you can also access and print the logs of this activity from the computer's memory.

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

make a list of the websites he went to that are questionable, if possible, take screenshots with the history folder so you have some proof and don't delete the evidence until after you tell your boss.

Just give the list to your boss and say, "you asked what type of websites he was on, here is a partial list of sites he visited"

Let your boss decide what to do and how to handle it, this way all you have done is pass on the facts,

As for the discomfort of working with someone like this, tell your boss you are uncomfortable with the idea and you want some assurance that you are safe at work, if your boss doesn't fire the guy, suggest that he be moved to an area where other people can see his computer at all times, and that he is never allowed to work during slow times when only a few other people might be around.

If you dont like the results you might consider quitting, you cant really take it to the police because looking at porn is not illegal, so unless he specifically did something to you, you would have no case.

Good Luck, I think you should tell your boss.

Answer 4

Adultfriend finder isn't porn. It's a websites that adults use to meet other adults who want sexual relationships. The fact that your boss asked you to clean up the computer when it possibly involved porn and you're a teenager is troubling. I'm not sure if he wanted to introduce you to porn or if it was just a careless mistake and he wasn't thinking that it's not such a good idea to tell a teenager to go through someone's computer and decide if there is porn on it. Chances are your boss just trusted that you would do the job right and wasn't thinking about your feelings on discovering something like that.

You should tell your boss what you found on the computer but also stress to him that it bothers you that you were sent on a job to decifer if there is porn on a computer and you'd rather not be put in that position again if it's at all possible.

Answer 5

Pet Finder

Answer 6

It's a big leap from this guy checking out Adult Friendfinder to you being in any danger. You're probably over-reacting a tad.

I'd say, leave this alone and do not get involved. You losing your job is one thing. This poor slob probably has a mortgage, a wife, a couple kids in college. Why ruin his life for doing a little web surfing?

By the way, he'll get his own just rewards - there are no real women on AFF. It's a huge sausage-fest!

Answer 7

Has this person done anything to you to make you feel that you may be in danger? If they have never made a pass at you or done anything inappropriate, then I don't think you have a problem.

If you like this coworker, then I would say something to him such as, "I was asked if there was any porn that could be causing the problem that you had with your computer. I told our boss no, but I later found this website. If any problems arise again, I will have to tell him about this." If you don't like him, but don't want to see him fired, say nothing this time, and if your boss asks you again, tell him what you found. If you think you are in danger, and want him gone, go to your boss immediately about what you found.

Answer 8

Well, if your boss asked then yes, you should tell your boss about what you've learned. If this person is harming the work computers then your boss should know and tell the guy to knock it off.

Additionally, this person has created a hostile work environment because you're now uncomfortable being there - so, yes, say something.

On a side note, I don't think you have anything to fear from the guy if he hasn't hit on you before. Having porn on his computer doesn't make him a sexual predator - it just makes him a tacky guy for having it at work. If you think the guy would try to retaliate against you for telling your boss, explain your fears to your boss and ask him/her to find a way to confront the employee as if you didn't inform him/her about the porn but s/he found it independently.

Answer 9

I do not agree that adult friend finder is the best website to goto at work, but then again it is not a "porn website" and is not any kind of "porn". consider it more of a trashy version of e harmony or any other type of dating website. Thats what people get on there for is to meet up, but it doesn't mean it puts you in harm and is for no reason for you to be scared. Does he have a family, kids, etc? you have to think about things before you just poof get someone fired because he is not a threat to you, unless he openly makes passes at you, etc etc... Him going to a "lower" dating website basically is the equivalent of someone going to myspace while working to talk to people.

Answer 10

I would tell your boss to take a look at what you saw and let him decide. If your co-worker knows he's not suppose to look at certain websites on a companys computer , then its really his fault not yours. He should take responsibility for his actions.