The Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU), which successfully investigated medical entrance exam NEET-UG paper leak in May and June, has sought assistance from the ministry of home affairs (MHA) to set up a ‘dark net lab’ at its headquarters in the state capital.
The lab will help monitor the dark net and deep web to check illegal activities and keep a tab on various types of mafia operations. It will also train police officers in tackling cyber crime.
“We have sought assistance from I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre), which is the apex cyber crime control body under the MHA, to help set-up a dark net lab in Patna. Its modalities are being discussed. It will have profound impact on crime fighting capabilities of the police,” EOU additional director general (ADG) Nayyar Hasnain Khan told The Telegraph.
Dark net is an overlay system within the internet or cyberspace which can be accessed only through specialised software, browsers, configuration and authorisation. The websites, chat rooms, and activities present in this system are not reflected in normal web searches.
Deep web or the invisible web is the part of the worldwide web that is not reflected by standard search engines and is protected by various cyber security protocols. Dark net and deep web have been found to be used for various illegal activities across the globe.
Khan stressed the importance of digital and technical investigations in cracking different types of crimes and pointed out that they played a big role in unravelling the recent NEET-UG paper leak.
The EOU is in the final stages of talks with the C-DAC (Centre for Development in Advanced Computing) for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to train investigating officers in detecting cyber crime, gathering evidence and other related aspects.
Khan added that 44 cyber police stations were functioning in Bihar and were doing good work in cybercrime control. Their cybercrime social media unit (CCSMU) was keeping an eye on social media platforms to uphold law and order. So far, 25,000 police officers of various ranks in the state have been trained in electronic investigation and evidence collection.
