Their own game Hackers and police alike try to beat pedophiles at their own game by trolling the Internet posing as teens. These are the same tactics used in the real world by law enforcement agents such as U.S. Postal Inspectors. Once images are passed or other obvious evidence of pedophilia is observed, investigators try to talk perpetrators into offering personal, identifying information. If they can't lure suspects, investigators use proprietary technology and investigative techniques to electronically track and trace byte trails, either to pedophiles' personal machines or to the servers that house the images. Even when agents complete such traces, they often find the server space pirated from a legitimate business that has no knowledge of what is stored there.
Agents say that makes it even more difficult to find the actual owners of the child pornography.
RSnake says he has passed on tracking programs and training materials to law enforcement agencies. The uneasy relationship between hackers and law enforcement has come with a lot of hard knocks. RSnake says he made a few blunders in the beginning, but that he and his 14 cohorts have now learned to do their sleuthing within the boundaries of the law. Federal training Agents and officers also receive training from a Sacramento, Calif.-based organization called System for Electronic Analysis and Retrieval of Evidence, or Search. The group is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.