FIA sets up dark web investigation unit at NC3 to counter cybercrime

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has established a dedicated dark web investigation unit to track and prosecute criminals operating on encrypted online platforms. 

Dawn reported, quoting FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar, that the unit, housed at the agency's National Command and Control Centre (NC3), will use modern technology to unmask criminals despite the obfuscation techniques they employ, track suspicious transactions typically carried out through cryptocurrency, and carry out enforcement action. 

He said the unit's focus will include tracing criminal networks that create illegal documents to facilitate human trafficking, illegal migrant smuggling, and other crimes within the FIA's mandate.

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The dark web refers to encrypted websites not indexed by conventional search engines, accessible only through specialised browsers. Its anonymity and decentralised nature make it attractive to criminals engaged in activities ranging from hiring hitmen and trading drugs and weapons to selling stolen data, as well as terrorism, piracy, malware and hacking. 

DG Anwar said the new unit will work alongside the FIA's cryptocurrency investigation unit, using blockchain forensic tools and open-source intelligence (OSINT) to link pseudonymous addresses to real identities. 

The dark web unit's establishment follows the FIA's earlier move to set up a cryptocurrency investigation unit at NC3 to probe the use of virtual assets in money laundering, terrorism financing and other crimes. 

FIA Counter-Terrorism Wing Director Dr Muhammad Athar Waheed had said at the time that the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) would regulate digital assets, while the FIA's unit would investigate their potential misuse in criminal activity.