Technical advances have unreservedly transformed our lives. Technology has changed the way we communicate, travel, learn and even find love. The internet alone has given rise to a worldwide community and a forum for the mass exchange of information. It’s a place people can turn to for inspiration, idea sharing and keeping in contact with friends, regardless of their location. In turn, we perceive it as a force for good, offering overwhelming opportunity for collaboration and education.

Anonymisation technologies continue to be a crucial challenge for police and digital investigators when it comes to identifying offenders who have produced and circulated child sexual abuse material.

Last week, the NSPCC released its annual ‘How safe are our children? 2016’ report. The report suggests that the Internet used in eight cases of child sex abuse every day. However, we feel that this latest number from the NSPCC is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the actual volume of child sexual abuse cases that have occurred online and go unreported to the police.

The fact that adults with sexual interest in children would choose to approach these young victims on social media is not a new concept. What has changed in recent years is the quantity of social platforms and how easy, quick and ‘private’ it has become to share images and videos via mobile phones and tablet computers.

In February, Women’s Weekly in Australia published an in-depth, interesting and horrifying article on child sexual abuse, telling the story of some of the most disturbing cases of child sexual abuse that the world has seen.

Our generation lives and breathes in a world of digital connections. Most of us own more than one mobile device, and are spending more and more time on our smartphone, tablet or laptop for work or personal use. In fact, it has recently been reported that Britons now touch their phones every four minutes throughout the day. It is therefore fitting that the theme of this year’s Mobile World Congress would be “Mobile is Everywhere.”

Crimes against children remains a huge challenge in our society. Worryingly, the number of cases are on the rise and there seems to be no sign of a reversal any time soon.

Today is Safer Internet Day in the UK, the aim is to raise awareness of Internet safety and encourage organisations to get involved with promoting the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.