THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the police hot on their heels, the Maoist cadres are increasingly turning to the dark web for maintaining communication and evading surveillance.
Owing to the high-level of encryption that provides enhanced anonymity, the ultras are using the dark web, which can only be accessed using special software, to spread propaganda and for recruiting people, sources with the police said. They said the state police are monitoring the dark web using their own tool to crawl data (collecting data from various sources on the web). They are also getting assistance from central agencies as encryption level the offenders are making use of often poses technical hurdles.
A police source said organised crime syndicates, including Maoists, were found the using dark web and Virtual Private Network (VPN) for communication.
“These services and platforms offer secrecy and hence those using them for nefarious purposes feel they can bypass surveillance by law enforcement agencies,” said a source, adding that the red ultras are using end-to-end encrypted email service providers, such as Proton, to keep members in the loop.
The sources said cyber investigators of the state police managed to access vital information about Maoist formations via data crawling done in websites and chat rooms.
They said the information collated from the dark web was used by the Kerala Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) to crack down on the banned outfit. “The recent arrests of some senior Maoist leaders from Kerala were the result of cyber operations,” said another police source.
The Kerala Police Cyberdome has a lab dedicated exclusively for conducting investigation and research on the dark web as the space is found to be frequently used by criminal syndicates. Cyber sleuths have also found that several gangs from Kerala that are now involved in drug trafficking are also using the dark web for networking, besides procuring and selling the contraband.
Clandestine moves
* Dark web provides high-level encryption and therefore secrecy
* Organised crime syndicates have been found using dark web and VPN for communication
* Several drug peddling gangs from Kerala also found to be using dark web