Worst types of porn found on school computers, expert says

Some of the worst pornography found on school computers has included child sex and bestiality, says a computer forensics expert.

John Thackray said today every school computer he had checked and maintained had contained some form of pornography but he said his real concern was the widespread child sex and bestiality which children could access.

His comments followed the sacking of Northcote Intermediate principal, Michael Wilks, 66, earlier this month after pornography was found on his school computer.

Mr Thackray said education authorities needed to undertake a nation-wide audit of school computers.

"It is not only child pornography . . . it is distressing when we are finding that sort of material, but we are also finding bestiality, snuff-type material, violent sex and rapes," he told National Radio today.

"It is not just the child pornography which concerns me. It is the violent nature of the material that we are finding in the business and school environments."

The sacked Auckland principal had been surfing websites for more than 15 months and had the only computer in the school which was not monitored and controlled by special software to restrict porn access.

Nigel Horrocks, editor of NetGuide Magazine, said computer users should know that if they accessed porn sites they could be traced, and the user risked losing his or her job, even if some of the material was not illegal.

"It often comes down to a moral issue."

Mr Horrocks said even if the user believed the sites had been deleted from the system, they could still be traced and audited.

"If anyone thinks they can get away from it, the events of the judge (Justice Fisher who admitted viewing porn sites on his work computer) and the event of the teacher should be a wake-up call.

"It should be a wake-up call for anyone in any position, be they prominent or otherwise, to realise there is a greater chance now they will be caught, probably accidentally.

"But they will be caught and as we have seen, they will probably be publicly humiliated," Mr Horrocks said.

He said a recent survey in England showed that 79 per cent of companies surveyed had said there had been "inappropriate" use of the internet, although that may also have included too much time being spent on the internet as well as visiting porn sites.

"The big misconception about the internet for most people is what they do online is anonymous."

Mr Horrocks said police and other authorities had become expert at delving into computers and finding material the user believed had disappeared.

- NZPA