SOFTWARE developed by one of Scotland’s most promising young tech firms has received a major endorsement that it can work quickly and effectively to identify child sexual abuse materials and “safeguard children”.
Cyan Examiner was developed by Edinburgh-based Cyan Forensics and its triage tool was assessed by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US, one of the pivotal bodies in the global fight against child sexual exploitation.
John Clark, its president and CEO, said NCMEC believed Cyan Examiner would also cut time and aid enforcement – building on an agreement the two organisations signed last year to work together to tackle online sexual exploitation of children.
The non-profit group’s CyberTipline is America’s centralised reporting system for child sexual exploitation and receives reports of suspected abuse from the public and electronic service providers. Information is then made available to law enforcement in the US and more than 130 countries around the world.
READ MORE: Home Office’s failure to update will cost taxpayer £173m, watchdog says
Last year it received 16.9 million reports which included 69 million images, videos and other files from electronic service providers related to child sexual exploitation.
The UK Home Office has already adopted Cyan’s technology, which it described as “game-changing”.
“Timing is critical in any case involving the safety of a child and for law enforcement working on cases of child sexual exploitation, the volume of content and devices that must be reviewed can mean days or even weeks of work,” said Clark.
“We believe this technology can cut the time needed to point investigators in the right direction to more directly safeguard children.”
Ian Stevenson, Cyan’s CEO and co-founder, said: “NCMEC is one of the foremost bodies in the US fighting to prevent child sexual exploitation, and their impact and relationship with US law enforcement cannot be underestimated. This backing will help get our tool into the right hands with greater speed.
“Cyan is working towards a world where there is no place that harmful digital content can be easily hidden or shared, and a key step is aiding law enforcement in catching paedophiles and terrorists.
“We are passionate about providing the tools to enable faster and more effective triage to bring justice more quickly against these crimes.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel