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by IANS |
New Delhi, March 26 (IANS) The busting of a spy ring in Ghaziabad has prompted the agencies to undertake an audit of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) feeds in various parts of the country. Officials say that the ISI has been relying heavily on CCTV cameras to get live feeds of sensitive locations.
The audit would cover most parts of Delhi and Mumbai, where it has been found that the ISI has been fishing for maximum information.
Gathering information using CCTV cameras has become the new norm for the ISI-backed spying networks in India.
Those, who were part of the network, were told to focus more on setting up CCTV cameras at sensitive locations such as public offices, railway stations and bus stands in different parts of the country. This has been done with the intention of gathering live feed so that attacks can be planned.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that this wipes out the need for a physical reconnaissance of the preferred target. In the Mumbai 26/11 attack case, it was found that David Headley had visited the city on various occasions and carried out a thorough reconnaissance of the targets.
The ISI wants to eliminate this risk and hence the CCTV cameras come in handy.
Investigations have found that such cameras were to be installed in nearly 60 places in various parts of the country.
These included locations in Delhi, Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir. The brief was to find places where the security is normally lax. Army installations and other sensitive locations were not on the radar of this network. These places are hard to penetrate and hence it was decided to target railways stations, bus stands, crowded markets and government offices which are less sensitive in nature, an official said.
An investigating official said that the network is a complex one. The recruitment pattern is an interesting one, where the emphasis was more on women and minors.
Apart from this, the others to be recruited were in their early 20s. The official said that the recruiters had lured these persons with money before they were recruited. One of the accused, Meera was tasked with not just gathering information and setting up CCTV cameras, but also setting up an all-women wing for the ISI’s spying activities.
The police also picked up a 17-year old boy, who was part of a cell that was tasked with recruiting minors. Such recruits do not come under the radar easily and these persons are easy to coax. Further, the lure of money is what attracts such recruits. It is more about the money rather than ideology in such cases, another official explained.
During the probe it was also found that these persons had several social media accounts. It is the teenagers who handle the social media better and this is an added advantage. Hence, during the investigation it was found that the minors and other younger recruits had created several social media accounts. A preliminary assessment into these accounts found that they were not being used to pass on information, but to invite others to join the network.
Another official said that with this new tactic coming to light, it is very important to have a CCTV audit. There are challenges as the CCTV network is not centrally-controlled. Adding to the headache is the advent of the solar powered CCTV cameras, which do not require any effort to set up.
The ISI had instructed the accused persons to fix at least three solar powered CCTV cameras at the public places including the railway stations, so that they could get a detailed view of the place. This makes it easier for the ISI-backed elements to carry out a detailed reconnaissance of the place.
Further, during an attack, the ISI can also give live guidance to the terrorists by watching the CCTV camera feed on their mobiles.
Another official explained that the problem is that there are lakhs of CCTV cameras that have been installed. The police, railways, municipal bodies and private establishment have multiple cameras installed across the cities. To fix one in this mix by an ISI recruited spy does not normally grab the attention of the law enforcement agencies. This is the vulnerability that has been tapped on to carry out spying activities using CCTV cameras, the official also explained.
The audit would also look to give suggestions on how to make the CCTV cameras more secure. Currently the system is vulnerable due to the use of default passwords. Moreover the devices are extremely cheap and there is no background check while buying CCTV cameras. Moreover they are easily available online at low costs, which again makes the CCTV camera a deadly spying weapon.
The Union Government is tightening regulations relating to the CCTV systems. From April 1 onwards, the government is likely to allow the sale of only STQC-certified (Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification) cameras as they are less prone to hacking.
Further an integrated surveillance framework will be set up, which would include unique device registration, strict cybersecurity standards and unique device registration.
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