Cyber-attacks detection and prevention

Currently, two basic types of defective content dissemination can be described. Dissemination of prohibited types of pornography and dissemination of hateful and extremist content.

In the case of the dissemination of prohibited types of pornography, it is mainly the dissemination of pornographic material depicting contact with animals and the dissemination (or possession) of “child pornography” (material depicting or otherwise using a child – a person under the age of 18, or a person who appears to be a child). There are countless methods of distribution. From simply offering this type of pornography for download to placing this material on the Internet, distributing it via exchange computer networks, sending them via e-mail, etc.

Most countries in the world have committed themselves to prosecuting child abuse leading to the production of pornographic material and the subsequent distribution of such material, whether or not they have ratified the Cybercrime Convention. Although considerable activity is being developed in this area (not only by states, non-profit organisations and others), the problem of child sexual abuse online persists.

The phenomenon of child pornography has co-existed with society from the first moments when it was possible to capture an abusive act on any medium (paper, film, etc.). However, the truth is that the Internet has allowed the mass dissemination of such materials among individual users, as well as their greater degree of anonymity.

The problem of the Internet and cyberspace is related to the previously stated statement that “the Internet does not forget”.If any material is uploaded or transmitted via ICT, there may always be a copy of that material somewhere. An example from the Czech Republic, where users themselves create material that depicts naked children, can be the file hosting portal www.rajce.net. This portal has certainly not been created as an environment for the distribution of any pornographic or otherwise harmful material (there are other sites for this purpose), but users do not respect the basic rules of the rajce.net service, especially Article 13, which states:

“Content depicting naked people, especially those under the age of 18, may only be placed on private albums with a password on Rajce; the other provisions of these rules, in particular the prohibition on placing pornographic content or content unlawfully infringing on the right to the protection of the personality of third parties, shall remain unaffected in such a case."

Nevertheless, it is possible to find a number of photographs on this site, albeit created with good intentions (for example, a sharing of photographs among family members living far apart), which are attractive to anyone, including a potential attacker. Due to other information that is published on this portal, or due to the correlation of data from other sources available online, it is much easier for an attacker, for example, to find a potential victim.

The problem is not the uploading of photos of naked people (with the knowledge of data replication), but the fact that this data is open to all users, not just a narrowly limited group (e.g. the already mentioned family).

A photo from rajce.net (photo is freely available to all users)

In conclusion, I want to say that I definitely have nothing against taking pictures of children (or sharing some photos with immediate family) because of the preservation of beautiful memories. What bothers me is the stupid and careless way these photos are made available to anyone in cyberspace.

One recent project dealing with online child abuse was the work of the Dutch company Terre des Hommes Netherlands (THN). This company created a virtual ten-year-old Filipino girl Sweetie. Sweetie communicated on Internet chats for ten days and was approached by approximately twenty thousand men. A thousand of them offered her money in exchange for online sex.

Project chief Hans Guyt told a news conference in The Hague that this type of crime required a new way of police work. “Predators and their victims will not approach us during the investigation,” he said.

"We created a virtual identity in the form of a ten-year-old Filipino girl."

“We didn't attract anyone until they offered us money,” Guyt said.

In this way, the activists wanted to draw attention to the growing problem of child abuse through webcams. They call this phenomenon “Internet sex tourism.” [1]

Possibilities of criminal sanctions in the Czech Republic

In the case of creation, possession or distribution of materials falling under the term child pornography, it is possible to penalise the user according to Section 192 (Production and other handling of child pornography), Section 193 (Child abuse to produce pornography) of the Criminal Code. Participation in a pornographic performance or other similar performance in which a child performs is also a criminal offence (Section 193a of the Criminal Code). It is also a criminal offence to gain access to child pornography through information or communication technology (Section 192 (2) of the Criminal Code).

It is also a criminal offence where a user has produced, imported, exported, transported, offered, made publicly available, brokered, put into circulation, sold or otherwise provided a photographic, film, computer, electronic or other pornographic work in which violence or disrespect for a person, or which describes, depicts or otherwise depicts sexual intercourse with an animal (Section 191 (1) of the Criminal Code).

In the case of a dissemination of hateful and extremist content, a criminal offence mainly includes the support and promotion of a movement that is demonstrably aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms, expressions of sympathy with such a movement, proclamation of racial, ethnic and national, religious or class resentment or resentment against another group. It also includes the spread of defamation by means of information technology and, last but not least, the sending of annoying messages falling under the concept of stalking or cyberstalking.

In these cases, there may be a number of crimes, such as Section 184 (Defamation), Section 353 (Dangerous Threatening), Section 354 (Dangerous Pursuing), Section 355 (Defamation of Nation, Race, Ethnic or other Group of People), Section 356 (Instigation of Hatred towards a Group of People or of the Suppression of their Rights and Freedoms), Section 403 (Establishment, Support and Promotion of Movements Aimed at Suppression of Human Rights and Freedoms), Section404 (Expressing Sympathies for Movements Seeking to Suppress Human Rights and Freedoms), Section 405 (Denial, Impugnation, Approval and Justification of Genocide) of the Criminal Code.

Possibilities of criminal sanctions in Poland

In Poland the following Article of the Penal Code apply:

Art. 200b. Public promotion of paedophiliac content

Art. 202. Presentation and distribution of pornography

Possibilities of criminal sanctions in Portugal

Such acts are criminalised in different ways, depending on the case. First of all, they may be considered as Offences related to child pornography (Art. 176 of the Criminal Code). On the other hand, they me be an Aggravated breach of privacy (Arts. 191(1)(b) and 197(b) of the Criminal Code) or as Revenge pornography related to domestic violence (Art.152(2)(b) of the Criminal Code (Art. 193() of the Criminal Code).

Besides, the objective elements of crimes like Discrimination and incitement to hate and violence (Art. 240 of the Criminal Code) or Defamation (Art. 180 of the Criminal Code) might be present.