The
dark web and how police deal with it
Use
of the dark web brings in unique challenges for law enforcement agencies in
India and raises questions on the loopholes in the laws in place to govern
cybercrime in India
Use of the
dark web brings in unique challenges for law enforcement agencies in India and
raises questions on the loopholes in the laws in place to govern cybercrime in
India. (Image for representational purpose)
Recently,
the term ‘dark web’ has been frequently used by the police, whether in the case
of the activists recently arrested by the Pune police, where the police claim
they were members of the banned CPI (Maoist) and communicated through the dark
web, or the Cosmos Bank fraud, where Rs 94 crore was fraudulently transferred
with some assistance from the dark web. Globally, the dark web is associated
with narcotics supply, child pornography, payment for arms to getting access to
login and passwords for streaming sites like Netflix at cheat rates. Use of the
dark web brings in unique challenges for law enforcement agencies in India and
raises questions on the loopholes in the laws in place to govern cybercrime in
India
What exactly is the dark web?
In
simple terms, the dark web is that part of the Internet that cannot be accessed
through traditional search engines like Google. Anything present on the
dark web will not be pulled up in internet searches, thereby offering a high
degree of anonymity. Dark web itself is only a part of the deep web that is a
broader concept, which also includes things like your bank statements which are
available online but will not be pulled up in generalised Internet searches.
Dark web users refer to the regular web as surface web.
How does one access the dark web?
The
dark web is accessed by anonymous networks with the most well-known one being
the TOR browser, short for “The Onion Ring”. It is a free software that users
download from the Internet to anonymously access the dark web. Developed in the
mid-1990s by the United States Naval Research laboratory employees to protect
US intelligence communications online, it is termed so as the traffic from the
browser creates several layers like those of an Onion before reaching the
destination site.
What is the nature of content on the dark web?
In
February 2016, in a study titled ‘Cryptopolitik and the Darknet’, researchers
Daniel Moore and Thomas Rid from King’s College London scraped a section of the
TOR network for a period of five weeks to analyse its content. Of the 2,723
websites they could classify by content, 1,547 – 57 per cent – hosted illicit
material ranging from drugs (423 sites), illegitimate pornography (122) and
hacking (96), among others. ‘The results suggest that the most common uses for
websites on TOR hidden services are criminal, including drugs, illicit finance
and pornography involving violence, children and animals,’ the study said.
There were also reports of log-in details of streaming sites like Netflix being
sold on the dark web marketplaces for cheap rates. One of the most infamous
dark web marketplaces was the Silk Road, best known for selling illegal drugs
that was eventually busted by the FBI.
Is there an upside to the dark web?
The
network is also used by several activists especially those living under
oppressive regimes to communicate without any government censorship. The TOR
network was used by activists during the Arab Spring and is known to have been
used by Chinese citizens. It is known to have large virtual libraries available
for researchers and students.
How do law enforcement agencies deal with the dark web?
In
the West, there is a debate over decrypting communications to catch criminals
which has been opposed by activists as it would risk everyone’s data. Cyber
experts say that some FBI officers in the US go undercover on the dark web to
keep track of illegal activities going on there. In India, there have at least
been two cases in the past year — in Chennai and Mumbai — where LSD was
purchased on the dark web using bitcoins. Mumbai DCP (Anti Narcotics Cell)
Shivdeep Lande said, “It is true that in case of drugs like LSD the dark net is
a big supplier. In a case last year, where we caught five students from Mumbai,
they had procured 1,400 LSD dots worth Rs 70 lakh through the dark web. They
would WhatsApp the number of LSD strips they wanted to a friend in the US who
was a member of a dark web syndicate. He then placed an order with a cartel
from the western European country and gave the Mumbai address of the boys where
it was couriered. Most of these arrests can be made only after the parcel is
delivered as it is very difficult to break into the dark web syndicate of these
cartels that specialise in drug supplying, arms supply or human trafficking.”
Why is policing the dark net more challenging than other
crimes?
The
most important reason why the dark web flourishes as a place where illegal
activities are carried out is the anonymity that it affords. In addition to
this, Lande said the international cartels that operate like shops where you
can purchase drugs, arms, child pornography videos are very guarded about
allowing people in their networks. “To enter a cartel the syndicate first asks
you to make some payments. It is also a time-consuming process and at times it
could take up to a year before you are allowed entry in the inner circle,”
Lande said. Maharashtra Inspector General (cyber crime) Brijesh Singh said,
“Like regular policing where you need a network, on the dark web too you need a
cell specially dedicated to trawling the web for years to make breakthroughs.
In some Western countries undercover officials for example would pose as
paedophiles and get access to the network to eventually bust them.” An officer
said that prior to the Cosmos Bank fraud in Pune in which Rs 94 crore was
fraudulently transferred from the bank there was chatter on the dark web about
people looking for details on Indian banks. “Had there been some police
presence on the dark web, we could have been in a better position to deal with
the attack,” a senior officer said.
What do the laws say about the evidence gathered by
investigating agencies through the dark web?
Lawyer
Ravindranath Balla, representing activist Varavara Rao, who was arrested by the
Maharashtra Police which claimed to have found letters sent by activists
through the dark web that allegedly show them to be part of the banned CPI
(Maoist) organisation, said that as per the amended Evidence Act, an
independent expert has to confirm the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the
person sending the letter and the one receiving it. The police have, however,
claimed that the activists used rise.in, a dark web portal where the IP
addresses are withheld. Cyber law advocates Vicky Shah and Prashant Mali,
however, said that there are tools using which those using the dark web and
proxy servers can be traced. Mali said, “In terms of evidence the IP address is
just one of the factors. There is always some linkage that can be established,
for example the proxy name used by the person on the dark web or if he has used
his debit/credit card details online that can be traced to him. Gathering
evidence on dark web activity is comparatively difficult but not impossible as
some people tend to believe.”
Is there a need for amending the laws in keeping with the
unique challenges posed by the dark web?
Cyber law expert and Supreme
Court advocate Karnika Seth said that in addition to the dark net, you have
self-destructive mailboxes and proxy servers where people can use fake ID’s. It
definitely makes it difficult to prove a particular charge and there is a
requirement for amendment to the Information Technology Act and Evidence Act.
An officer said that the Information Technology Act that currently deals with
cyber crime is at heart a code of e-commerce and comes under the Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology. There are only six sections in the law
that deal with cyber crime. With the changing times we need a code of criminal
procedures dealing with cyber crime that would come under the Ministry of Home
Affairs, which deals with policing issues. Shah, however, said that more than
dealing with newer laws, there is a need for police trained in changing cyber
trends who are dedicated only to cyber crime and not transferred to other
police units.
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