In a movie almost reminiscent of CBS’s CSI: Cyber the United Kingdom’s top law enforcement agency, the National Crime Agency (NCA), and the U.K.’s intelligence and security organization the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) have aligned in a joint operation to take on the Dark Web, the segment of the internet hidden from prying eyes by encryption and network-driven darknet anonymity. The mission of this joint operation is to tackle online crime and specifically that which happens in places otherwise difficult for standard policing operations to shine a light into.

“An NCA and GCHQ co-located Joint Operations Cell (JOC) opens officially today,” reads the announcement published last week. “The unit brings together officers from the two agencies to focus initially on tackling online child sexual exploitation.”

According to the announcement this joint operation has been in the works for a long time. In December 2014, Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans during the the We Protect Children Online Global Summit where he used fears of child exploitation to forward the project.

“When it comes to the so‑called ‘dark net’, the National Security Council that I chair has already made this a security priority and I can announce today that we’ve created a new joint team between the National Crime Agency and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ),” Cameron said in a speech at the time. “[U]sing all the techniques and expertise we use to track down terrorists, using all those techniques, to track down paedophiles as well. This builds on some excellent joint work that’s already been done.”

Now that announcement has become a reality.

Portrayals of the Dark Web cross both criminals and innocents

National policing agencies have become increasingly concerned about the use of anonymizing and encryption software such as Tor (The Onion Router) to enable the criminal element. In the past this software has been used to enable dark marketplaces such as The Silk Road, which was eventually toppled and its administrator Ross Ulbricht put on trial.

However, this led to a number of mixed signals about the utility and tools that policing efforts had. For one, much of the work done by the police required no special tools or work and was described by a lawyer following the case as good old gumshoe work.

Software such as TOR and encrypted virtual private networks (VPNs) are not just used by criminals, but also political dissidents and activists in countries where this activity is dangerous to life and limb.

NCA Director General Keith Bristow was careful to acknowledge this but still fell back on the stated “focus mission” of the Joint Operation Cell to call for its formation.

“The explosion in online communication channels has brought huge benefits for society,” said Bristow. “It has also significantly expanded the means by which criminals can share information, plan crimes including the sexual exploitation of children, and target victims. The JOC is a genuinely innovative development, using the best of our respective agencies’ skills to tackle the most complex cases and the most dangerous offenders online.”

The formation of the JOC by the U.K. is an example of world policing organizations attempting to evolve to deal with the aging technological understanding of police forces. While the JOC speaks of an initial focus on child endangerment, there is a growing need for police units capable of dealing with ever increasing vandalism, cyber attacks, and the rise of hacker groups such as Anonymous, LulzSec and Lizard Squad.

Although it’s apparent that ordinary, everyday police work is capable of bringing these groups down (and in the case of LulzSec may crumble from within like any other criminal organization). There is still a great deal that could be done by combining that regular police work with the new protocols learned through internet-knowledgeable cyber-intelligence units.

photo credit: Tilehurst, Berkshire – England (UK) via photopin (license)