Viewing porn could give your computer ‘digital STI’
Hackers target millions of British online voyeurs with malware able to empty a bank account in seconds
PORNOGRAPHY is infecting millions of computers in Britain with viruses likened to “digital STIS” , experts have warned.
Cyber criminals have marked internet pornography as a key target and are booby-trapping websites with malicious software that could cost victims their savings.
Four in ten British adults watch pornography on digital devices every day and nearly a third have been infected with malicious software as a result, according to a survey.
Hackers have an arsenal of cyberweaponry at their disposal, including programmes that can track the keystrokes on a laptop or smartphone. Any passwords or email account details are sent to criminals to empty bank accounts. In some cases, hackers hijack pornography sites with malware that allows them to mine bitcoins. Another scam, click-jacking, tricks someone into clicking on one link while they think they are clicking on another.
Clickjacking could be used to install malware or to turn on the victim’s webcam without their knowledge. Victims are often unaware they have been “hacked” until it is too late, although one symptom is a slow running device.
Although 41 per cent of Britons admit viewing pornography, the taboo surrounding it led 17 per cent of 1,000 respondents to blame other family members or friends after their device contracted an infection.
These websites are increasingly becoming mainstream entertainment and are therefore a meal-ticket for scammers, the cybersecurity and antivirus provider Kaspersky said. Many British adults did not even use “any form of cyber contraception”, said David Jacoby, Kaspersky’s security expert.
“In 2017, we identified at least 27 variations of PC malware which specifically hunt for credentials to paid adult content websites.
“Adult sites are attractive to cyber criminals because they have a vast number of users to potentially infect and those users are less likely to report the infection due to the embarrassing nature of how they got the infection.”
Latest global figures from the security company found that at least 1.2 million smartphone owners encountered a malware attack in 2017.
There are no official figures on British adult viewing habits. However, the website Pornhub releases Uk-specific statistics annually. In 2017, just over half of British visitors to the website used their smartphones. Around 31 per cent were aged between 18 and 24 but 5 per cent were over 65.
The Government plans to introduce age-verification on pornographic websites this year, forcing visitors to prove their identity, possibly through banking cards. Privacy experts warn this could put users at risk of blackmail if a hacker accesses personal details.