Supercomputer Hunts Child Porn Producers

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are devoting their considerable computer expertise and a million processor hours on their Jaguar supercomputer to help authorities track down people who post child pornography online, reports New Scientist. An advocacy group approached the federal scientists to help weed through the tremendous amount of data currently generated. "We could quadruple our law enforcement dedicated to this problem overnight, and they'd still be overwhelmed," says the director of the National Association to Protect Children.

The lab is trying to change that by developing algorithms to sift through the data more rapidly to lead police back to the producers, and ultimately to the abused and exploited children. "We want to be able to say, 'Hey, of all of the data you're looking at right now, here are a handful of IP addresses that you should investigate further," says the lab's lead investigator on the project.
(More child sexual abuse material stories.)