According to the U.S. Department of State, human trafficking, also called trafficking in persons, “compromises national and economic security, undermines the rule of law, and harms the well-being of individuals and communities everywhere”.  Traffickers profit by compelling their victims to perform labor or to engage in commercial sex against their will. There are an estimated 27.6 million victims of human trafficking worldwide at any given time, the State Department says.

Human traffickers prey on people of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities, exploiting them for their own profit. That is why Cobwebs Technologies is partnering with All Things Possible (ATP) to counter human trafficking and identify victims and potential offenders.  The mission of All Things Possible is to identify, interrupt and restore those affected by this trauma. Cobwebs Technologies supports these efforts to help bring victims to safety by contributing our resources to identify and interdict human trafficking activity.

ATP also works with BlueLight LLC, an EAG partner, which recently announced its data fusion technology, Blue Fusion, to improve data connectivity, fuse with numerous technologies, and provide deep-dive analytics for OSINT analysts. Cobwebs is proud to volunteer at this event and work with these partners to assist with the identification of possible traffickers and victims.

Skull Games: Uncovering Human Trafficking to Help Save Victims

The name Skull Games comes from the brainwashing traffickers inflict upon their victims to keep them docile. However, the people at Skull Games try to get into the minds of those same traffickers. Volunteers are usually former military or law enforcement intelligence personnel, but some of the best work comes from survivors.  In October 2022, two survivors who are now intelligence analysts, helped law enforcement during the Fifth Skulls Game identify at least 20 human trafficking victims.

At the end of each Skull Games, EAG and ATP send detailed reports to law enforcement with a path of discovery for them to obtain warrants with a probable cause to find victims or possible suspects. As a retired law enforcement officer, I am proud to work side by side with members of EAG and ATP, using our intelligence tradecraft to provide law enforcement with this critical information to help close cases and stop further victimization.

Analytics in Real Time to Fight Human Trafficking

Human trafficking affects us all. Only through collaboration between all sectors of society—government, law enforcement, academia and the private sector—and the proper tools, can we combat human trafficking. As the State Department report says, “Its impact ripples across the fabric of our global community. We must work together, and in partnership with survivor leaders, to effectively address this crime.”

I am proud to volunteer my time to this worthwhile organization. I am also proud to represent Cobwebs Technologies, which is a company that truly believes in using “OSINT For Good”. Through our work this weekend, we can help save victims and bring law enforcement the information they need to successfully investigate these cases.