Are you going to watch porn? According to the expert, you should be suspicious and cautious, or the consequences could be fatal

The expert recommends keeping certain things in mind before you go surfing on sites that look suspicious at all. Adobe Stock / AOP

Jynkky, poke, porn. Most people have watched video or image material intended for adults at least once in their life, even though the subject is still a strong taboo.

However, the sites are often shady, and suspicious advertising windows from instant casinos and sex services may pop up on the screen. Viruses and malware are also feared.

We asked a security expert, head of cyber security firm Adminize From Sami Laihohow insecure porn sites really are.

The world’s biggest businesses

Laiho confirms that there is reason to be suspicious and cautious about porn sites. He reminds that the pages are money-oriented and often part of a huge business network, where many operators do not have clean flour in their pockets.

– The websites typically have a lot of different advertising and tracking, which aim to profile users. They also have a lot of different links, so when you go to a site to surf, it is by no means the only one, but there are many links to other sites, he says.

Because porn is still easily thought of as dirty and taboo, advertisers are often like that too. Typical advertisers are various shady businesses, online casinos and gambling sites.

The biggest companies that run porn websites employ hundreds of people, such as Pornhub, Brazzers and Redtube, which recently came under the ownership of Ethical Capital Partners. Smaller sites can be maintained by individuals.

However, the sites and the actors behind them are united by poor transparency, meaning that there is little information about their methods of operation.

A lot of profiling

According to research, porn sites, like many other sites and services, absorb a lot of information about their users.

– The website may collect, for example, browser data and IP address, which reveal which countries you come from, how often you visit and at what time of day. The amount or quality of information leakage depends a lot on what information the browser shows to the outside, and whether a VPN is used, for example, Laiho explains.

A VPN, i.e. a virtual private network, forms an apparently private network that better protects the user’s information from, among other things, espionage. This enables private web browsing.

However, according to a cyber expert, you should not use any VPN application. The end point of the connection, i.e. the provider of the function, can be unreliable. According to Laiho, a good rule of thumb is to choose a VPN offered by a reliable operator, and to pay for it.

– Unfortunately, operators fish for customers in the same way as in other phishing companies. Personally, I would prefer to use a paid VPN, at least more attention should be paid to free VPN connections.

The article continues after the picture.

Do not accept cookies

According to the law that entered into force in 2020, non-necessary cookies require consent in accordance with the GDPR, i.e. the EU’s data protection regulation. Cookies are small text files that leave traces of online activity.

Laiho says that in general, cookies should not be accepted on websites that seem shady.

– The consequences can be quite fatal. I would say that with the help of cookies, considerably more information can be found out about the device, and it is a more permanent monitoring method for third parties, he points out.

Perhaps one of the scariest fears for many is that footage of an intimate moment would be leaked to outsiders. According to Laiho, it’s not just an urban legend that the user could be filmed using a phone or computer camera.

– It is a complete fact and there are many real cases. Unfortunately, there are also many examples where the camera is in use, even if the camera light is not lit. The only bombproof way of protection is a physical barrier, Laiho says.

As a final note, he stresses on updating the operating system immediately when the updates are published. Updating the router is also important, but many operators take care of it automatically.