International Law

Operation Algebra child rape convictions in Scotland: open WiFi tracking, digital camera image forensics

"Child Abuse" is one of the Four Horsemen of the Infocalypse regularly invoked as a justification for ever more Government snooping and censorship of the internet, even though these problems have existed for thousands of years before the internet was invented.

Nevertheless, it is true that some, but not all, of the people obsessed with "child porn" images, collected, or swapped via the internet, are actual baby rapers of the most disgusting variety.

Last week in Scotland, the Operation Algebra case resulted in their conviction of a couple of such evil men, and 6 other of their child porn swapping / collecting associates

The mainstream media has reports about the shocking rapes and abuse, not just of children but of infant babies by the chief perpetrators David Rennie and Neil Strachan, who are being considered for "whole life custody" prison sentences.

Edinburgh based journalist Mike Wade, has published, on his Wades world blog, a fuller version of his article Paedophile gang preyed on children of close friends published in The Times, Friday 8 May, 2009, which includes some of the more interesting technical details of the investigation, which have been edited out.

See Wade's world: The men who preyed on their friends' kids

However, from a computer security, privacy and civil liberties viewpoint, the case has several points of interest.

• No use of Encryption ?
• Mobile Phone videos
• Communications Traffic Data
• Mutual Legal Assistance avoids RIPA ban on email intercept evidence ?
• Tracking down a target computer abusing open WiFi connections
• Digital Photo and Camera Forensics

Full post as published by Spy Blog on May 09, 2009 (boomark / email).