ISI’s new spy game: Fake officer channels, urgent messages to trap army personnel

New Delhi, October 24 (IANS): The arrest of a couple in Punjab for allegedly running a honey-trap operation to extract information about key military installations has exposed a suspected espionage network linked to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).The husband and wife lived in Kalu Wala village in Ferozepur district, close to the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.They have been accused of sharing sensitive information about Army movements and deployments in border areas. Investigations have revealed that the woman allegedly posed as a police officer to mislead people and gain access to confidential information.An Intelligence Bureau official said honey-trapping had long been a tactic used by the ISI to extract sensitive information. However, the growing number of cases involving impersonation to gain access to confidential information has emerged as a major concern.Those recruited by the ISI are forging communication channels to extract information. For instance, communication channels of high-ranking police and army officers have been forged.“Once created, these communication channels do not begin operations immediately. They keep a watch on junior officers who are likely to fall into such communication channels,” the official said.These communication channels remain silent for some time before they trigger a message to a junior officer.The communication usually carries a severe sense of urgency.Another official said that when an artificial emergency is created, the junior officer tends to pass on information almost urgently.The officer tends to prioritise the urgency rather than cross-checking whether the communication channel is genuine or not.Once the information is gathered, such forged communication channels are immediately shut down, the official added.Another official said that these forged communication channels also trigger messages that put lower-ranking officials under stress. These officers very often are compelled to bypass protocols while transmitting sensitive information.“There have been cases whereby officials have been told to provide access to unauthorised networks,” the official said.During Operation Sindoor in May last year, India demonstrated its military strength against Pakistan while also gaining an advantage in the intelligence domain. An assessment of developments following the operation, launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, suggests that Indian intelligence agencies have maintained an edge over ISI.Several modules have been busted, and honey-trapping networks have been shut down thanks to concrete and actionable intelligence.Further, Pakistan has not been able to revive many of its proxies fully, and it also continues to struggle when it comes to infiltrations.Officials say that these factors have led to the ISI reinventing tactics to pull out as much information as possible relating to the Indian armed forces.It is currently pushing hard to set up several impersonation networks. This is a fresh challenge for the Indian Intelligence agencies.The ISI’s strategy of using an impersonation network for a single operation, shutting it down and then setting up a new one, poses a major challenge for Indian intelligence agencies. The short operational life of these networks makes it harder for investigators to trace their links and identify those behind them, an official said.