Businesses fear reporting pornography - IWF survey

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 1 Oct 2004 at 15:46

More than two-thirds of businesses would not tell the authorities if they found child pornography on their systems, for fear of prosecution, according to the Internet Watch Foundation.

The IWF survey reveals that while only 27 per cent of those polled would report such materials to the authorities, those that felt unable to may take confidence from a recent agreement 'between the police and the CPS [that] states that IT managers may preserve such material and records on their systems for the explicit purpose of providing access to law enforcement'.

This new understanding is based on increased evidence that malware such as Trojans can infect systems and allow remote attackers to place such material within compromised corporate networks.

However, this still may not be enough for some, who understandably do not want to be associated with child pornography in any way.

Rob Hale, Security consultant at UK based Internet Filtering and Reporting company Netdata Plus said 'There has always been reluctance among corporates to disclose information which could have such a negative PR impact on the company name.'

Hale suggests companies also employ Web filtering solutions that track surfing activities in order to preempt the problem occurring in the first place.

The IWF also urges any companies that do encounter child pornography on their networks to report it to the authorities through the IWF.