A man from the United Kingdom was sentenced this week when an ransomware infection led him to report to the police that computer it contained several hundreds of porn photos animals, which the court described as "extreme" and "disgusting".
According publications local media, 61-time Victor Anthony Noble, resident of Scotland, lived in Cumbria village of Warwick Bridge 2013 when his PC was hit by a ransomware.
Unlike the destructive cryptoware of recent years, such as CryptoLocker or CryptoWall, this type of attack leaves the files intact, and simply locks the system. Then of course, he demands a ransom to unlock it.
A typical technique scammers are telling the victim that the computer contained pirated software, porn, or something else illegal, and demanding a ransom not to report it to law enforcement.
In many cases, the malware pretends to be the police or systems themselves monitoringof the FBI.
In the case of Mr Noble, although he paid 100 pounds, the scammers did not unlock his computer.
So, Noble thinking that this would not stop, he decided to surrender to the local police, and to admit that the computer contained porn photos with people, horses, dogs and pigs (!).
Although he admitted that he was shooting down some 600 photos, Noble claimed he never remembered seeing them.
The incident took place in May of 2013, and Noble appeared before the Carlisle Court in December of 2014. In March, the appeal to the Carlisle Crown Court was heard. He blamed his guilt for five categories that included the possession of extreme pornography.
Spent 12 months suspended.
