Pedophiles have found new ways to share images and videos of young children. They are using what is called the dark net, and it makes it more difficult for authorities to crack down on the identity of these people.
The dark net is a part of the Internet that is difficult to access. A website in the dark net would not show up on in search engines. Users who want to access this section of the Internet are required to use special software.
Based on a report from the BBC, a pedophile who ran the now defunct website used by other pedophiles to share images and other content of abused children, said his website experienced up to 500 hits per second from the site's 40,000 regular visitors. That's a huge number, and it could also prove that pedophilia is on the rise.
The man, who chose to keep his identity a secret, told the BBC that more pedophiles are figuring out how to access the dark net. Furthermore, he's not sure if these folks are new to pedophilia, or if they are just long-time pedophiles who are scared of sharing images the tradition way on the web in fear of getting caught by the police.
Interestingly enough, the onetime pedophile website host, claims his own collection of abused children is around 12GB in size. The thought of a man having such a large collection of naked children should make anyone feel uneasy, especially parents and soon to be parents.
The alleged pedophile claimed that his identity is safe since he is using several layers of security to keep the authorities away. One of these security measures is likely the Tor Browser, which is a web browser that is designed to keep user's IP address untraceable, even from the NSA.
However, Greg Virgin, a man who owns a software company that helps human rights groups, says he is wondering if it is possible to break into Tor for the purpose of catching these sick human beings. Such a task would prove difficult since it would likely rattle privacy advocates, and who knows, it could also give reasons for Tor to launch a lawsuit.
It's a sticky situation, but we're hoping there's a silver lining in the months and years to come.
