'It’s an arms race’: the tech teams trying to outpace paedophiles online

As platforms pivot towards greater encryption, analysts are rushing to finesse child abuse prevention technology

• Child abuse hotline reports rise in calls from men viewing illegal content

Predators are often early adopters of technology," says Sarah Smith, chief technology officer at the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK child abuse hotline. It's an arms race, we have to be constantly horizon-scanning."

Smith and her team, based in an unassuming office in Cambridge, are a key link in a chain of experts around the world developing and finessing technology that tracks down paedophiles and removes child abuse images found online.