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                            Library & Multimedia
 Measurement and Analysis of Child Pornography Trafficking on Gnutella and eMule
NCJ Number
              305908

Author(s)
          Ryan Hurley;
                        Swagatika Prusty;
                        Hamed Soroush;
                        Robert J. Walls;
                        Jeannie Albrecht;
                        Emmanuel Cecchet;
                        Brian Neil Levine;
                        Marc Liberatore;
                        Brian Lynn
Date Published

2012
Length
              18 pages
Annotation
              Since peer-to-peer networks are the most popular mechanism for the criminal acquisition and distribution of child pornography (CP), this paper reports on an analysis of observations of peers sharing known CP on the Gnutella and eMule networks, which were collected by law enforcement using forensic tools developed by the authors.
Abstract
              Peer-to-peer networks are the most popular mechanism for the criminal acquisition and distribution of child pornography (CP). In this paper, we examine observations of peers sharing known CP on the Gnutella and eMule networks, which were collected by law enforcement using forensic tools that we developed. We characterize a year’s worth of network activity and evaluate different strategies for prioritizing investigators’ limited resources. First, we focus on strategies for reducing the number of CP files available on the network by removing a minimal number of peers. We present a metric for peer removal that is more effective than simply selecting peers with the largest libraries or the most days online. We show that any successful strategy must target offenders from all countries. Second, we characterize the aggressiveness of six peer subgroups, including: peers using Tor, peers that bridge multiple p2p networks, and the top 10% of peers contributing to file availability. We find that these subgroups are more aggressive in their trafficking, having more known CP and more uptime, than the average peer. Finally, while in theory Tor presents a challenge to investigators, we observe that in practice offenders use Tor inconsistently. Over 90% of regular Tor users send traffic from a non-Tor IP at least once after first using Tor. (Published Abstract Provided)
      
  
          Additional Details
Grant Number(s)
        2008-CE-CX-K005


  
  
        
  Agencies
        NIJ-Sponsored


  
  
        
  Publication Type
        Research (Applied/Empirical)


  
  
        
  Award
        Peerless:  A System for Identifying and Gathering Evidence of P2P Trafficking
    
  
  
Date Published: January 1, 2012
    
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      PatentsRelated Topics
        
                Child pornography
        Forensic sciences
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        Child (under 12)



  
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