Once again the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) has become the target of a well-executed series of attacks – most likely by organized crime. The attacks appear to be an effort to discredit ASACP and to frighten innocent people.
These attacks against ASACP are currently in the form of spam emails sent by bot networks designed to trick people into receiving a message that their IP address has been reported to ASACP for searching/downloading suspected child pornography. Bot networks are computer systems infected with malicious software that allows an individual to control a vast network of computers without the knowledge of the computers owners. These bot networks can be used to carry out denial of service attacks against websites, send vast quantities of spam email, and even host illegal content. ASACP would like to remind everyone that having a good, up-to-date, anti-virus security suite installed is the best way to guard against your computer becoming part of a bot network.
“We wish to make everyone aware that ASACP does not investigate individuals, only suspected child pornography websites and never, under any circumstances, initiates such contacts. Our mode of operation is detailed on the ‘About ASACP’ page,” stated ASACP CEO Joan Irvine.
If you receive a suspicious email, IM communication or message on a website purporting to come from ASACP, please forward it to ASACP at [email protected]
ASACP has added an explanation for the public to the CP reporting page (http://www.asacp.org/index.php?content=report) and alerted the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
More recently ASACP learned that its email server IP address had been placed on the Barracuda black list. Thanks to the prompt action of ASACP’s hosting company, ASACP was removed from this list.
While it is impossible to determine the exact source, ASACP Technology and Forensic Research Director Tim Henning believes that it likely originates with the very criminals the organization strives to shut down.
"CP operators would like nothing better than to hinder our operations," said Henning, who has overseen ASACP's online CP reporting hotline for well over 13 years and also participates in the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography. "The work we do helps stop them from making money from child pornography. Obviously, the efforts of ASACP, other hotlines, and the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography have been very effective."
About ASACP
Founded in 1996, the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating child pornography from the Internet. ASACP battles child pornography through its CP reporting hotline, and by organizing the efforts of the online adult industry to combat the heinous crime of child sexual abuse. ASACP also works to help parents prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate material online.
ASACP provides an online hotline for web surfers and webmasters to report suspected child pornography. Our many member sites provide links to this hotline, which receives thousands of reports every month.
ASACP investigates these reports and determines the hosting, billing, IP address, ownership, and linkage of suspected CP sites. ASACP then forwards Red Flag reports to the appropriate government agencies and associations. These include the FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, as well as European hotlines. We also notify ISPs and payment processors when their hosting and billing services are hijacked by CP operators.
ASACP's Approved Member program for adult sites offers a model of effective self-regulation for the online adult industry. Approved Member sites are required to comply with our Code of Ethics.
ASACP has established Best Practices for members, which are recommended not just for adult sites, but also for search engines, billing and hosting companies, dating sites, and others.
ASACP created the RTA ("Restricted to Adults") label to better enable parental filtering, and to demonstrate the online adult industry's commitment to helping parents prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate content.
ASACP keeps its members informed on current laws and regulations pertaining to child pornography and child protection, as well as new and pending legislation.
ASACP works to educate and inform its members, the online adult industry, government policy makers, and the public about issues related to child protection, illegal online activities, and the efforts of the online adult industry to battle child sexual abuse.
These attacks against ASACP are currently in the form of spam emails sent by bot networks designed to trick people into receiving a message that their IP address has been reported to ASACP for searching/downloading suspected child pornography. Bot networks are computer systems infected with malicious software that allows an individual to control a vast network of computers without the knowledge of the computers owners. These bot networks can be used to carry out denial of service attacks against websites, send vast quantities of spam email, and even host illegal content. ASACP would like to remind everyone that having a good, up-to-date, anti-virus security suite installed is the best way to guard against your computer becoming part of a bot network.
“We wish to make everyone aware that ASACP does not investigate individuals, only suspected child pornography websites and never, under any circumstances, initiates such contacts. Our mode of operation is detailed on the ‘About ASACP’ page,” stated ASACP CEO Joan Irvine.
If you receive a suspicious email, IM communication or message on a website purporting to come from ASACP, please forward it to ASACP at [email protected]
ASACP has added an explanation for the public to the CP reporting page (http://www.asacp.org/index.php?content=report) and alerted the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
More recently ASACP learned that its email server IP address had been placed on the Barracuda black list. Thanks to the prompt action of ASACP’s hosting company, ASACP was removed from this list.
While it is impossible to determine the exact source, ASACP Technology and Forensic Research Director Tim Henning believes that it likely originates with the very criminals the organization strives to shut down.
"CP operators would like nothing better than to hinder our operations," said Henning, who has overseen ASACP's online CP reporting hotline for well over 13 years and also participates in the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography. "The work we do helps stop them from making money from child pornography. Obviously, the efforts of ASACP, other hotlines, and the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography have been very effective."
About ASACP
Founded in 1996, the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating child pornography from the Internet. ASACP battles child pornography through its CP reporting hotline, and by organizing the efforts of the online adult industry to combat the heinous crime of child sexual abuse. ASACP also works to help parents prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate material online.
ASACP provides an online hotline for web surfers and webmasters to report suspected child pornography. Our many member sites provide links to this hotline, which receives thousands of reports every month.
ASACP investigates these reports and determines the hosting, billing, IP address, ownership, and linkage of suspected CP sites. ASACP then forwards Red Flag reports to the appropriate government agencies and associations. These include the FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, as well as European hotlines. We also notify ISPs and payment processors when their hosting and billing services are hijacked by CP operators.
ASACP's Approved Member program for adult sites offers a model of effective self-regulation for the online adult industry. Approved Member sites are required to comply with our Code of Ethics.
ASACP has established Best Practices for members, which are recommended not just for adult sites, but also for search engines, billing and hosting companies, dating sites, and others.
ASACP created the RTA ("Restricted to Adults") label to better enable parental filtering, and to demonstrate the online adult industry's commitment to helping parents prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate content.
ASACP keeps its members informed on current laws and regulations pertaining to child pornography and child protection, as well as new and pending legislation.
ASACP works to educate and inform its members, the online adult industry, government policy makers, and the public about issues related to child protection, illegal online activities, and the efforts of the online adult industry to battle child sexual abuse.
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