Authorities say both are using the Internet in fiendishly clever ways.
Bin Laden is believed to be sending plans to worldwide followers, child molesters to be swapping kiddie porn. They're getting away with moving this stuff on the public Net by using digital steganography, a technology that enables them to hide it in plain sight, authorities say. According to media reports in February, FBI Director Louis Freeh was concerned enough about the technique to testify about it before a closed congressional hearing in 2000. A Gresham, Ore., firm is giving federal agents special instruction on the method. The thinking is that they will have a better chance of intercepting hidden illicit material if they know how the process works.