The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Source: Fox News
Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:31 PM
Knoxville Police Warn Local Residents About Facebook Message That Contains Child Porn
According to KPD, reports of this nature have been received by law enforcement in other states.
According to security officials in Knoxville the video was possibly if not likely made out of the country. As far as how many people have been affected by it, it's hard to tell.
"I don't even know if there's a valid way to count at this point - it's so massive," McReynolds said.
It can come in the form of a message from a friend, but it's far from that - it's a hacker.
"The initial attack happened about two weeks ago, then it started spreading in other ways. Even though its the same video, this most recent one, where it's been posting to news feeds, started a few days ago," McReynolds said.
The video is being spread by some trying to warn friends about the video, but others are spreading it, insisting it will help bring justice to the victim.
To protect your account, a strong, frequently changed password is key.
"Cause even if you have a good password, there are huge lists that exist online where these passwords get stored and hackers can buy those lists and use them to break into people's accounts," McReynolds warned.
He suggested, long passwords make the best ones. They don't necessarily need a bunch of random characters and symbols, but length matters. He used a phrase as an example.
Police ask residents who get the message to take several steps.
First, police said, "do NOT share the video with anyone" if you discover it in your Facebook inbox. Notify Facebook about the video immediately. Facebook will inform the proper law enforcement.
Once you have completed those steps, delete the file from your Facebook account.
According to KPD, multiple law enforcement agencies are working to identify the source of the video.
They asked that no one share the material as it could be considered distribution of child pornography and the person responsible can be criminally charged.
