The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

German police hunt 12,000 strong child abuse ring

Shadowy network identified after ISP tip-off

Free whitepaper – The starter PKI program

German investigators are attempting to identifying participants in a massive online child sex abuse network reckoned to have involved 12,000 people.

The investigation into what's thought to be the largest such network centered on Germany has also identified suspects in approximately 70 other countries. The suspects include 300 men from the eastern German state of Sachsen-Anhalt. The investigation, which began some months ago, began with a tip-off from an unidentified Berlin ISP, which identified suspicious traffic flowing through its network.

"The material was analysed. Then we called for search warrants," Peter Vogt, head of the central office tackling child internet sex abuse told German radio station Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), the BBC reports.

Further details of the inquiry, including what arrests (if any) have been made so far, remain sketchy. ®

Free whitepaper – Server-gated cryptography

Don’t Miss

HandcuffsFeds: Hospital hacker's 'massive' DDoS averted

Arrest foils 'Devil's Day' scheme

thumbs down teaser 75Buggy 'smart meters' open door to power-grid botnet

Grid-burrowing worm only the beginning

MicrosoftMicrosoft knew of nasty IE bug a year before attacks

Security delayed or security denied?

BlockMaster SafeStickBlockMaster SafeStick hardware-encrypted USB drive

Review Tough enough?