Searchlight’s Investigation Tool Helps the ILF to Identify Offenders on the Dark Web
Washington DC – Wednesday, NOVEMBER 1, 2023
Searchlight Cyber, the dark web intelligence company, has partnered with the Innocent Lives Foundation (ILF) to support the non-profit organization in its mission to identify anonymous child predators and help bring them to justice. The ILF is using Searchlight’s dark web investigation solution Cerberus to gather intelligence and build cases against offenders operating on the dark web.
The Innocent Lives Foundation’s Predator Identification Team (PIT) uses Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) to find the true identities of anonymous child offenders and compile evidence that is then passed on to U.S. or international law enforcement agencies to pursue. It has worked closely with law enforcement in over 500 cases where offenders have been identified and brought to justice.
Offenders often use the dark web to find and share sexually explicit materials related to children on hidden sites and forums while masking their identity. The dark web runs on internet anonymizing software, which makes it difficult to identify the visitors and hosts of the sites, creating an additional challenge for law enforcement and organizations like the ILF.
Searchlight’s dark web investigation solution Cerberus was built in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and has been successfully deployed in some of the world’s largest dark web investigations. The addition of the dark web intelligence accessible through Cerberus will make it possible for the ILF to identify offenders even if they are using the dark web to cover their tracks.
Christopher Hadnagy, CEO and Founder of ILF commented: “The power that Cerberus has put into our hands will enable our mission to expand in ways I never thought possible. It is only by partnering with companies as generous as Searchlight that ILF will be able to continue to assist law enforcement in this vital mission.”
Evan Blair, General Manager of North America at Searchlight Cyber commented: “We are proud to be working with the ILF, an organization whose mission we believe in deeply. Bringing criminals operating on the dark web to justice has been part of our ethos since Searchlight was founded. Working with organizations like the ILF we can make sure that dark web sites and forums are no longer a safe haven for criminals to act with impunity, which can have the most profound impact on the lives of thousands of children.”
ENDS
ABOUT SEARCHLIGHT CYBER
Searchlight Cyber provides organizations with relevant and actionable dark web intelligence to help them prevent cybercriminal activity. Founded in 2017 with a mission to protect society from the threats of the dark web, we have been involved in some of the world’s largest dark web investigations and have the most comprehensive dataset based on proprietary techniques and ground-breaking academic research. Today we provide governments, law enforcement agencies, and enterprises around the world with dark web investigation and monitoring capabilities – empowering them in their fight against criminal activity on the dark web.
About the innocent lives foundation
The Innocent Lives Foundation is a charity that identifies online child predators to help bring them to justice. As a non-vigilante organization that partners worldwide with law enforcement, our vision is a world where all children can live innocent lives. Using innovative online investigative techniques, ILF’s team hunts down the worst of the worst — pedophiles, sexual predators, and human traffickers — then provides critical evidence and identifying information to U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to aid in their capture and arrest. Founded by renowned social engineer Chris Hadnagy (aka “The Human Hacker’’). The foundation’s board of directors includes such notable figures as Douglas Ash an executive with more than 30 years of experience in senior positions, Timothy Maloney our Attorney and chairman of the board, Dr. Kathie Mathis a CEO with over 35 years of administrative and mental health experience, Stephanie Paul an executive, coach, actress, director, and producer, and Erin Gray an internationally known actress, speaker, writer and founder of “Heroes for Hire.”