UNVEILING THE DARK WEB: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF AI-ASSISTED CYBERCRIME INVESTIGATIONS IN INDIA’S HIDDEN INTERNET

The rise of cybercrime in India, driven by growing indications of digitization and technological advancement, presents formidable challenges to individuals, businesses, and national security. This report brings together existing literature on the landscape for cybercrime in India and the extending role of artificial intelligence (AI) to build investigative capacity. Traditional enforcement practices face challenges to manage the breadth and sophistication of cybercrime; AI provides a set of tools for threat detection, data analysis, digital forensics, and suspect identification.

However, the move toward AI to address cybercrime in India faces legal and regulatory considerations, technical and organizational challenges and ethical considerations. This report reviews the existing legal framework for existing and anticipated cybercrime and AI laws in India, examines the technical and organizational challenges to the implementation of AI in investigations, and introduces several case studies to indicate potential and limitations of AI.

The review leads to the conclusion that whilst AI indicates significant opportunity in assisting/increasing investigations of cybercrime in India, it requires a related legal and regulatory framework, careful investments in technical capability and education and a consideration of ethical implications to ensure safe and just cyberspace.