Wednesday 27 January 2016

FBI used child pornography site hosted on Dark Web to prosecute pedophiles

The FBI hacked into a child pornography site hosted on the Dark Web, but instead of immediately shutting it down, it used its content to lure and prosecute pedophiles.
After hacking the site, known as "Playpen," the FBI decided to let it run for 13 days and allow images of child sexual abuse to be distributed, according toMotherboard.
Although information on the network investigation tool is just being revealed,court filings show the FBI's operation took place from Feb. 20, 2015 to March 4, 2015.
While the FBI's actions are against normal operational procedure, the government was able to collect IP addresses and install malware on the computers of those who frequented the site. Documents show that there were 215,000 registered users at the time of the investigation.
However, the FBI only collected identifiable information of around 1,300 people who logged in or registered during those 13 days.
Out of all the identified site users, the FBI was able to charge 137 people with a crime.
"We had a window of opportunity to get into one of the darkest places on Earth, and not a lot of other options except to not do it," Ron Hoski, former FBI agent, told USA Today. "There was no other way we could identify as many players."
The FBI was also able to hack computers in other countries, which led to arrests in Denmark, Greece and Chile.

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