IWF & Cyacomb tackle abuse material on work devices

The Internet Watch Foundation and Cyacomb have partnered to help organisations detect child sexual abuse material on workplace devices. The arrangement gives IWF members access to Cyacomb's scanning technology.

The partnership addresses a growing concern among employers following a series of criminal cases involving illegal content found on work-issued equipment across sectors, including education, entertainment, travel and public services. Its aim is to help companies identify known child sexual abuse material on devices without exposing staff to the imagery during checks.

Edinburgh-based Cyacomb scans devices against databases of known illegal material maintained by the IWF and other partners. It returns a red, amber or green assessment to indicate whether a device may contain known child sexual abuse material.

The process is designed so organisations do not view images or unrelated files during a check. If a device is flagged red, Cyacomb supports the organisation through escalation procedures, including engagement with law enforcement.

Rising Cases

The partnership comes as the IWF reports an increase in confirmed child sexual abuse material online. The charity took action on 312,030 reports containing confirmed material in 2025, up 7% from 2024.

It also recorded a steep rise in AI-generated abuse content. Analysts identified 3,440 AI-generated abuse videos in 2025, compared with 13 the previous year.

Those figures point to a broader shift in the threat facing organisations that issue and manage digital devices for staff. They also underline the challenge for employers, who may face criminal investigations, regulatory scrutiny and reputational damage if illegal material is found on corporate equipment.

Dan Sexton, chief technology officer at the Internet Watch Foundation, said the tie-up forms part of a wider effort to tackle the spread of the material.

"Preventing the spread of images and videos of child sexual abuse is absolutely key to protecting victims and survivors from repeated victimisation. But it is something no single organisation can do on its own. This new partnership will provide powerful protections for employee devices against being abused to spread child sexual abuse material. The IWF is dealing with record numbers of reports of child sexual abuse imagery. Cyacomb will help us make sure there is no safe space where this dangerous material can be shared and distributed," Sexton said.

Workplace Risk

For employers, the issue has moved beyond IT governance to include safeguarding, compliance, and legal risk. Cases involving possession of child sexual abuse material on workplace devices can trigger police action and put senior management under pressure to show what controls were in place.

Cyacomb's approach is intended to let organisations take targeted action while limiting access to personal data and unrelated content. That could appeal to businesses trying to balance device oversight with employee privacy and data protection obligations.

Founded in 2016, the company works with law enforcement, border agencies and other organisations that need to identify known illegal material on digital devices. Its model centres on matching known content rather than requiring staff to manually inspect files.

Chris Johnson, chief executive officer of Cyacomb, said many businesses underestimate the scale of the threat until a serious incident occurs.

"Most organisations don't realise the risk that can exist on corporate devices until it becomes a crisis. In recent years we've seen cases where illegal material has been discovered on workplace devices in environments where trust and safeguarding are critical. Our technology gives organisations a responsible way to identify those risks early, without compromising privacy. By working with the IWF, we're helping organisations take proactive steps to protect children, protect their employees and protect their reputations," Johnson said.

The partnership reflects a wider push among organisations tackling online harm to bring detection closer to where illegal material may be stored or shared. Here, the focus is on corporate devices that might otherwise go unnoticed until a police inquiry, internal investigation, or external complaint brings the issue to light.

For the IWF, which is best known for identifying and helping remove child sexual abuse content online, the collaboration extends its role into tools that can be used inside organisations as part of safeguarding and risk management. For Cyacomb, this places its scanning technology in front of the IWF's membership base at a time when employers face growing pressure to show they can quickly identify illegal content and respond in a defensible way.

The system's central promise is that organisations can establish whether a risk exists without opening files or viewing images, an approach that may reduce both privacy concerns and the trauma associated with manual review of abuse material.

If a match is found, the matter shifts from internal checks to formal escalation, including potential involvement of law enforcement.