THE NUMBER OF HONEY-TRAP CASES reported in India over the last few years has been growing, despite advisories and warnings, as several officials continue to fall prey to these networks.

An official said that Pakistan's ISI, which runs these networks, has appointed scores of psychologists to identify officials who have access to sensitive information. The idea is to study such individuals, tap into their personal problems, and then elicit information from them.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that the ISI has been appointing psychologists for this purpose and has directed them to create social media accounts using female identities before they scout for targets. These are highly trained persons who are able to trap officials who have personal issues.

These psychologists first identify officials on social media, and then study in-depth the kind of messages that they put up.

Since they are trained psychologists, they are able to easily gauge the mindset of such officials, the official added. Once identified, these ISI-appointed psychologists begin chatting with these officials and are very sympathetic to them.

They spend months trying to identify the vulnerabilities of these persons. It takes around two to three months before they earn the trust of these officials. When the trust is gained, these persons are told to install applications on their systems.

Most of these applications are sneaking spyware and malware, which are of Chinese origin.

Officials say that the honey-trap networks are no longer relying on money as bait. It is more of a mind game, and the ISI has said that it is easier to tap into officials holding sensitive information by using their personal problems, the official added.

Since this modus operandi has been working well for the ISI, it has been decided that there has been a growing clamour for psychologists in Pakistan.

In recent cases, it has been found that tapping into the personal problems of officials has worked well for the ISI. These officials are vulnerable, and they stay on social media to vent out their frustrations.

In such cases, psychologists are able to easily identify these vulnerabilities and using their expertise, they are able to trap such persons. Money and intimidation are no longer the baits that are used. It is the exploitation of vulnerabilities, and the use of intimacy and attraction has managed to trap officials holding sensitive information. Such tactics are used best by psychologists.

Before the trapped person even realises it, they are already handing out sensitive information through digital communication channels.

The recent surge in appointments of psychologists into these honey-trap networks is something that has worried the Indian agencies.

The scenario is worrisome as many officials continue to fall into the trap and even end up installing data-leaking software or malware onto their systems, despite advisories being issued on a regular basis, an official said.

[KS]

--IANS