Adult image issues- not porn

[jimgriff]

I remember reading of some public figure being exonerated for having adult theme images - not porn on his PC as it was later proven that he had not accessed the said sites. How can images appear on a PC without being downloaded? Is this possible? Can internet activity be spoofed?
Viruses? Trojans? Malware? Any other ways that I should be aware of?

[mixture]

I remember reading of some public figure being exonerated for having adult theme images - not porn on his PC as it was later proven that he had not accessed the said sites.

Hard to know without detail, so no comment.

How can images appear on a PC without being downloaded?

Images, being just files, can "appear" on a PC through any of the multitude of means that a file can appear on a PC. And subject to directory write-privileges, they can be written to any location.

Can internet activity be spoofed?

Can't say "no", because like anything in computing, a computer will do what you tell it to.

But I would say very much unlikely given its not a useful attack vector to anyone.

The current trend being for phishing and pharming attacks.... which use other means to get a user to visit stuff.... but that's done elsewhere.

Plus Windows machines, and especially web browsers will leave very specific forensic trails. It would be quite a lot of hard work to accurately mimic those.

I never asked for that forensic document you offered in another post, and I'm not willing to either. Not because I don't want to help you by answering generic questions, but because I'm aware there is an active legal case going on and I don't want to stick my nose in and jeopardize your defense the case because I don't know the exact circumstances.

Any other ways that I should be aware of?

Unlikely.

In a typical corporate environment running Windows where you regularly change your password on the domain, it's unlikely any other options would be viable (e.g. remote control) unless the admin knew your password. But as passwords are stored in encrypted format on the server, the only way an admin would know your password is if you gave it to them or if they were doing a security audit and yours was found via a dictionary attack.

[vulcanised]

What's wrong with having "adult theme images" on your computer, and why would you have to be exonerated?

[belfrybat]

Most web browsers cache the visited pages, so if you revisit a page inside some timeframe it will retrieve it from the cache unless specifically told not to. This includes the images on the page, and a seemingly innocuous page may contain 'inappropriate' images in the ad banners. Where on your computer was the image found? The cache is in a very specific directory. And doesn't explain the alleged mailing of said image.

[jimtherev]

Also, as you stated on the other thread, your computer spent some time when others had unrestricted access to it. Who knows what sh1t can have been deposited during those times?