Simon Fraser University expanding web sleuth program to track child exploitation

VANCOUVER – Researchers at Simon Fraser University have invented a web-crawling program that identifies and tracks child predators and their networks through cyberspace.

Starting with a database of child sexual exploitation websites known to RCMP, the program follows their links to other sites, gathering information on content, keywords, images and videos.

Co-developer Richard Frank, an assistant professor in SFU’s School of Criminology, says the program means police officers would no longer have to spend hours viewing disturbing content to identify illegal websites.

The automated program also follows the virtual trail to the host locations of illegal websites — something police struggle to do.

The university’s International Cybercrime Research Centre is now expanding the experimental program thanks to a grant from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority.

The money will allow the team to add a feature that finds the location of servers hosting child exploitation sites and to look up the registered owners.