News abounds of a new virus spreading via the crappy Japanese p2p networks Winny and Share, and it’s quite hilarious. Distributed as fake installed packages for popular hentai and eroge games, the virus gathers data and screenshots from offending PCs and posts their details ONLINE! The site then sends offenders an email detailing how they must pay a few hundred dollars to have their information discreetly removed from public records. The virus claims the fee is to conpensate copyright holders (since the user downloaded the software from a p2p network), but it’s obviously just a scam, and quite a good one at that.
The most notable victim so far has been the headteacher of a middle school, whom it was also discovered was harbouring child pornography. Typically for the education system here, the man has KEPT HIS JOB with what appears to be no reprimand for his crimes. He did, after all, apologise. In Japanese society, apologising is the key to getting a lighter sentence – or in this case, nothing at all. I suspect the students are having a field day ripping the piss out their principal – either that, or cowering in fear whenever they get called to the principals office for a one-on-one chat session. Oh dear.
Still, if you’re using Winny or Share, you really ought to be aware of the dangers – not only from these ridiculous perv-tagetting viruses, but also because Winny is so far the only p2p network in Japan to have been responsible for file-sharing criminal cases. Use torrents to download safely, silly.
