A Light in Darkness: Child Predator Hunting through OSINT, Dark Web Sleuthing & Linguistic Analysis
13 Aug 2022
Lightening Talk
A Light in Darkness: Child Predator Hunting through OSINT, Dark Web Sleuthing & Linguistic Analysis
Jessica Smith
Abstract
Growing up, most of our parents told us, “There are no such thing as monsters.” The problem is, our parents likely knew nothing of the dark web, where the beings of nightmares live, breathe, and lurk. While we can’t be Van Helsing, slaying creatures of the shadows, we can target, hunt, and learn from them, digitally. This OSINT for good talk will examine child predator tracking and identification through open, deep, and dark web channels, as well as, leveraging linguistics analysis and chat forum engagement to locate vulnerabilities in OPSEC measures. Not even the stealthiest of targets can hide in the darkness for long, when their pursuers are armed with predator-specific investigative skills, a roadmap of their weaknesses and, of course, a white hat.