Saturday, 18th Oct, 2008
Times of India
Terrorists use child porn to stay in touch
Embed coded messages in sex abuse images
London: Paedophilia and terrorism seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. But a string of police raids across Britain and Europe has established the unlikely link between terror plots and hardcore child pornography.
§ Messages may be concealed within digital images and audio, video or other files, via a method called steganography, or ‘covered writing’.
§ The first link between child sex abuse and jihadists emerged in London in 2006 when antiterrorism police found images of hardcore child porn in two investigations.
§ Scotland Yard’s antiterrorism branch found over 40000 child porn images in one case and fewer than a dozen in another.
§ Experts say that the advancement in encryption technology is outpacing the authorities’ abilities to monitor suspected terrorists and paedophiles.