India: Experts claim that the emergence of social media primarily Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, has made it easier than ever for people to connect with one another; counterintelligence should concentrate more on reorienting training programmes. Defence personnels posted in remote locations are the main targets.
It seems the online charms of a femme fatale can produce amazing results if Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) or another hostile foreign agency wants to access the country's classified underbelly today—the armed forces, defence research, and space organisations.
On June 17, a contract worker at the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad was detained for allegedly using social media to disclose sensitive information about India's missile programme to an alleged ISI agent in Pakistan. Dukka Mallikarjuna Reddy, also known as Arjun Bittu, a 29-year-old suspect, was apprehended at his Hyderabad home.
In the past 20 months or so, cyber investigators keeping an eye on social media have discovered unusually extensive documentation coming from Reddy's Facebook account. This information was not your typical social media chatter. Instead, there were specifics about top-secret advanced naval system programmes from the RCI complex of the defence lab in Balapur, Hyderabad, where the accused was working.
That was sufficient to raise alarms within the security establishment, alarms that even Reddy noticed, albeit too late. In March 2018, he proudly updated his Facebook status to reflect his employment with DRDL. He received a call from a purported ISI handler two years later, in March 2020. The caller identified herself as Natasha Rao, a UK Defence Journal employee whose father had been a member of the Indian Air Force before relocating to the UK.
Investigators claim that after that, it was simple to lure Reddy. Reddy was enamoured by promises of marriage and unending love in the months that followed. Investigators think the female handler was successful in obtaining "highly secured and confidential information of DRDL-RCI Complex through social media."
According to the police, Reddy continued sending the ISI handler private defence information up until December of last year but grew suspicious when Natasha abruptly changed her Facebook profile name to Simran Chopra and refused to respond to his messages.
During the investigation, the police discovered that Natasha had also requested Reddy's bank account information in order to determine whether or not money had been transferred to the account. Security organisations have taken his laptop, two mobile phones, and SIM card.
Social media's introduction, particularly Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, has made the curve more obvious. Prior to the introduction of these long-distance electronic linkages, it would have been difficult and potentially dangerous to lure a potential informant or spy. However, things have now significantly improved.
According to former RAW director A.S. Dulat, "India is picking up a western habit." The top intelligence organisation in India is called RAW, or the Research and Analysis Wing.
other personnels trapped in this Honey Traps:
IAF airman Devendra Sharma
Army gunner Pradeep Prajapat
Gaurav Kumar (Rohtak)
Jaswinder Singh (Ludiana)
Satyanarayan Paliwal (Rajasthan)
after so many restrictions on defence and local personals who are including in national security are always on the secret survillenceClearly, India could make better use of such concepts. But given that not a single university department in the nation offers a course in military psychology, it seems that there is a long way to go.
