KUALA LUMPUR: With Malaysians still reeling from the shock of the exploits of British paedophile Richard Huckle, who is charged with sexually abusing local children here from 2006 to 2014, the details leading up to his arrest raises more questions than answers.
It was reported that Australian authorities were the first to uncover Huckle’s exploits through investigations into a seedy digital realm known as the “Dark Web”.
As the name suggests, the Dark Web is essentially a hidden, encrypted network that is part of the “Deep Web”, a subset of the Internet, that also includes the Surface Web, i.e anything that is accessible using common search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.
According to data consulting firm Bright Planet, the difference between the Surface Web and Deep Web is that the latter is not indexed by traditional search engines.
The inaccessibility could be the result of the data or content being located behind a paywall, meaning it is for members only; it being password protected; or, are databases that lack active hyperlinks as they are not published in the first place.
Computer scientist Mike Bergman, in his groundbreaking study titled The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value published in 2001, cited Dr Jill Ellsworth as coining the phrase “Invisible Web” in 1994, referring to non-indexed contents.
Thus, it may not be a stretch to assume that the Deep Web has been around at least since the dawn of the Internet.
The Dark Web is intentionally hidden from prying eyes using special encryptions and is not accessible via standard browsers.
Though not all of the Dark Web’s content is exclusive to it, most of its infamous content can be found on a specific network called The Onion Router (TOR), which can only be accessed through a special Web browser called the TOR browser.
The TOR browser can be easily downloaded from torproject.org
by anyone with Internet access, along with bundles configured to ensure anonymity and protect the user’s privacy.
TOR’s hidden services are various websites which are platforms for, among others, the trade of illicit pornographic materials (involving children, animals and rape), weapons, cyber threats (computer codes and viruses) and even assassination services.
Users can browse for these services anonymously and pay via digital currencies, such as Bitcoins, which are virtually untraceable.
It was in this region of the Internet that a child pornography site called “Love Zone” drew the attention of the Australian authorities.
BBC reported that “Task Force Argos” officers identified Shannon McCoole, a child aid worker in Adelaide, as the creator and operator of the site and arrested him.
In a brazen first-of-its-kind move, Task Force Argos took on McCoole’s identity and kept the site running. It was then that they homed in on one particular user who “stood out”, based on his “aggressive attitude” and the “number of children he has access to”.
The BBC reported that the sordid details of the abuse could only be released now as investigators had sought a gag order from the courts to ensure his victims were safe from other online sexual predators.
Interpol Cyber Strategy chief Christophe Durand said tracing criminal activities and those behind them in the Dark Web was challenging as one would need to be “invited” by a member who could vouch for him or her to join the specific forums and prove
that they were genuine and committed members.
“When it comes to criminal rings and paedophiles, they are very cautious. They are always searching... (for those who) could be an agent in the forum.
He made the remarks in reference to Huckle, 30, who is facing multiple life sentences for sex offences against Malaysian children.
At the end of the day, it is cooperation and the sharing of information among countries that was most vital to curb criminal activities, he said.