AI AND CYBERCRIMES IN KERALA

AUTHOR: Anugra Anna Shaju

INTRODUCTION

Artificial intelligence can be said to be the ability of machines to think and process
information like a human. Though mostly they are devoid of emotions and consciousness,
they are extremely powerful and efficient ways to process large amounts of information.
Robots and AI technologies are becoming part and parcel of everyday life. They are
becoming more capable of performing tasks similar to that of humans and are already
involved in various areas like information assistance, physical assistance, surveillance and so
forth. They have also made an entry in policing functions and in maintaining security, law
and order. These technologies are becoming an integral part of the law enforcement
ecosystem and the police force. Kerala is a state that has made huge strides in integrating
technology in their policing methods and police force. However, the issue of cybercrimes is
still rampant in the state. Cybercrime can be said to be an unlawful action using a computer
or its systems or its online, offline applications to commit or cover a crime. The use of AI in
investigating and solving cybercrimes and crimes in general is a game changer as it helps a
lot in processing complaints, in the investigation process and in evidence collection and also
because most crimes today have a cyber-aspect to it. However the use of AI has certain
positive as well as negative consequences.

AI AND KERALA POLICE

Kerala has made huge strides in inducting AI technologies into their policing and police work
force and the Kerala police are pioneers in the integration of technology. The police
department has taken a keen interest in developing and using AI technologies in their
policing. The state police Chief Loknath Behera have at multiple occasions emphasized that
robotics and Artificial Intelligence would be part of everyday living in the coming days.

Humanoid Robot in the Police:

The state is the first in the country to have a humanoid robot in the police department. The
Robocop named KP-Bot was inducted in the police force by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan
on February 20, 2019.1 The robot serves in the rank of a Sub Inspector (SI) and performs
duties of the front office at the police headquarters. It will receive visitors and guide them to
the concerned departments as required. It is also required to give detailed and accurate
information to the visitors about the procedures and the services available in the office. The
robot can enquire about the details of the visitors and record their complaints. It can directly
interact with people through voice or through messages on its screen. It is equipped to fix
appointments with officers (officers can connect with the robot through tele-presence),
provide identity cards to the visitors and open new case files based on the visitor’s grievance.
It can also identify higher officials and greet them with a salute like the other police officers.
It is also a legally aware machine that can file cases for illegal acts it comes across. For
example, if a person offers it bribe, it can take steps to file a case against the person. With a
range of sensors and ability to gather information from its surroundings, the robot works
seamlessly alongside humans.

Though the robot isn’t developed enough to replace anyone’s work and is only a first contact
point or tool to collect data, it will reduce the workload of the police force. Importantly when
people visit the police stations they would be in distress and would be expecting someone or
something to listen to their grievances and give prompt and correct response whether it be a
human or a robot. The humanoid robot fulfils this expectation very well. Such a provision
where the robot is recording and filing cases would make more people come forward and file
cases without hesitation and would solve the issue of reluctance of many police departments
to lodge FIRs on certain cases. Also given that most government infrastructure in Kerala is
quite complex and different departments hard to locate, the humanoid robot is a huge help to
the elderly and illiterate people.

The idea to induct a robot into the police force was first announced during the Cocon Cyber
Conference following which the idea was brought to fruition by state police cyber dome and a
Kochi based start-up, Asimov Robotics.

Cocon Cyber Conference:

The Cocon Cyber Conference, earlier known as Cyber Safe is an initiative of Kerala Police
that was started in 2008 in collaboration with Information Security Research Organization

1
P S Gopikrishnan Unnithan, India’s first RoboCop: Kerala Police inducts robot, gives it SI rank, INDIA
TODAY, Feb. 20, 2019, https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/india-first-robocop-kerala-police-inducts-
robot-gives-si-rank-1460371-2019-02-20.
(ISRA).2 The event is conducted as part of the International Information Security Day and has
covered various themes like tackling cyber terror, ethical hacking, free tools for cyber
investigation, etc. The 2019 conference saw themes like artificial intelligence, security
compliance, password less economy, embedded systems, securing payment data, routing
protocols for enhanced anonymity, tackling fake news, threat hunting, statistical correlations
in tracking adversaries, third party risk management, cloud security, block chain technology,
etc.3

The aim of the conference is to introduce new technologies and deliberate how they can be
used for policing and ensure that the police are current on all technological trends that would
help them prevent crimes and bring peace and order in the state.

The Kerala police also conduct Kid Glove as part of the Cocon Conference that focuses on
online child protection workshops for parents, teachers and organizations to orient them
towards the various cyber threats to children.

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System:

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) is a Mission Mode Project (MMP)
under the National e-Governance Plan of Government of India and Kerala has been selected
as a pilot state for the implementation of the project. It aims at creating a comprehensive and
integrated system to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of policing and to automate
police functions at police stations. It will facilitate and pave the path for online registration of
complaints, means to check status of cases registered at the police station, verification of
persons etc. The records of crimes and criminals at one police station will be accessible to the
other police stations also and this will make collection, storage, retrieval, analysis, transfer
and sharing of data and information easier. The records will be available to the different
police stations, State Headquarters and Central Police Organizations.

The centre is working on an AI based database called Modus Operandi Bureau (MOB) as part
of the CCTNS containing the modus operandi of criminals to help the police solve cases
faster by spreading information on new methods adopted by criminals. This database will be
updated from time to time and the police investigations will have technological solutions,
they will be able to identify similar cases using keywords. Importantly the system would
allow police to get an idea on who the criminal may be or who may have committed the
2
Initiatives, KERALA POLICE (Mar. 11, 2021, 5:19 PM), https://keralapolice.gov.in/home/page/initiatives/list.
3
Id.
particular crime and could help avert incidents like in the case of serial killers based on the
modus operandi. The system will also be using voice analysis to identify the person over
ransom or threat calls using database of voice samples of previously arrested criminals.

Cyber Domes:

Cyber dome is the technological research and development centre of Kerala Police that
coordinate external technical expertise or civilian experts with the police force to meet the
latest challenges in cyberspace and to ensure that lack of technology do not prevent them
from getting the criminals. It aims to prevent crimes through public-private partnership as the
police may not be able to meet the latest challenges in cyberspace. The centre also focuses on
monitoring the social media and the dark nets. By working with private agencies, the police
are working towards a cyber-threat resilient ecosystem. The centre works with government
departments and agencies and research groups.

Use of AI Technologies during the Pandemic:

As the virus started spreading it was important to impose lockdown restriction and ensure law
and order while also spreading awareness about the pandemic. The SAYABOT helped the
Kerala police with this task. The robots were used to spread awareness among the employees
working in Kerala Start-up Mission (KSUM). One of the robots was trained to dispense
sanitizer, tissue paper and masks while the other was trained to answer all major questions
related to Covid-19 based on information from the WHO database.

The police used drones with sirens and other features to broadcast safety audios and
awareness messages. The drones powered by artificial intelligence had helped police track
down lockdown violations and carry out surveillance tasks. They were very useful to disperse
crowds and collect data. Advanced versions had options to carry out thermal scanning of
crowds, collate data and process it to detect virus infection from a safe distance.

Proposed AI Projects:

The 2021 state budget saw Rs.5 crore being allocated for the setting up of virtual police
stations.4 With increasing use of AI technologies in everyday life including policing and the
Kerala police’s enthusiasm to integrate advanced technologies into their police workforce,
this budget allocation is no surprise. The amount would be used to set up kiosks that serve as
4
M.P. Praveen, Now, AI to power virtual police stations, THE HINDU, Jan. 15, 2021,
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/now-ai-to-power-virtual-police-stations/article33581173.ece.
virtual police stations as tantamount as a real police station at public places. The pandemic
had necessitated the setting up of such virtual police stations whereby people don’t have to
visit actual police stations to register their complaints. Manoj Abraham, ADGP Headquarters
and nodal officer of Kerala Police Cyber dome has held that though initially the virtual
polices stations may be restricted to basic stuff such as registering complaints and other
policing services, it can be scaled up to be used in criminal investigation, including evidence
collection, filing of charge sheets etc. in due course. 5 Many others also feel that AI can be a
game changer in processing complaints, investigating crimes and in evidence collection.

CYBERCRIMES WITH REFERENCE TO KERALA

The Kerala police are becoming increasingly self-reliant in technology and are using top
technologies to prevent cybercrimes and ensure security. Their works in the cyberspace are
beneficial to the society and has become a great initiative to prevent and investigate
cybercrimes.

However despite the tech savviness of Kerala police, the state is not free from cybercrimes.
In fact there have been instance of hackers hacking the state’s Police Academy website
regarding an incident in which a couple set themselves on fire during a confiscation process. 6
The hacking was done by a group called “Cyber Warriors” who felt that the police’s
statements in the incident were unbecoming of the police force. So the state including the
police force is not free from cyber-attacks.

A report by K7 Computing found that Kerala recorded the highest number of cyber-attacks,
around 2000 attacks during the lockdown.7 The attackers targeted the state with Covid-19
themed attacks and exploited the panic around coronavirus thus affecting people’s trust. Most
of these attacks aimed to collect confidential data, banking details through phishing attacks
and apps disguised as Covid-19 information apps. Also a hurried change to work from home
policy and increased use of online sites and apps had given rise to the attacks. Thus with
people’s life increasingly shifting to the internet and the digital world, there was a rise in
cybercrimes in the state.
5
Id.
6
DNA Web Team, Kerala Cyber Warriors hack state Police Academy website; write, 'Dismiss criminals in
khaki', DNA, Dec. 30, 2020, https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-kerala-cyber-warriors-hack-state-police-
academy-website-write-dismiss-criminals-in-khaki-2865166.
7
Kerala records highest number of cyber attacks during lockdown: Report, ETCIO, May 21, 2020,
https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital-security/kerala-records-highest-number-of-cyber-attacks-
during-lockdown-report/75866236.
Cybercrimes are not limited to financial crimes and can be used to commit heinous and
organised crimes, sell drugs and arms and for human trafficking among other illegal
activities. The dark nets are being used for criminal activities and have become a haven for
drug dealers, arm traffickers, child pornography collectors and other criminals. When the
criminals use someone else’s identity, it becomes extremely difficult to catch them.

Along with this many are not aware about cybercrimes. Majority people lack basic awareness
about cybercrimes and have reservations about reporting it. Most cybercrime cases occur on
social networking and blogging sites and involve financial crimes like card details fraud or
disclosure of confidential or personal details. Other crimes involve publishing or transmitting
material containing lascivious themes, software piracy or theft or trade of intellectual
property, spoofing and defamation.

Finally investigating and prosecuting cybercrimes is harder than other crimes due to evidence
requirements and cross-national boundaries. Also today’s cyber criminals use modern and
sophisticated technologies and the anonymity provided over the internet or their use of fake
identities is an added protection for them. The police are not as equipped enough to
investigate and prevent cybercrimes.

AI AND CYBERCRIMES

Investigating cybercrimes and preventing cybercrimes is one of the major challenging areas
for law enforcement agencies. AI technologies play a huge role in this area. However like
with every other thing, AI also has positive and negative impacts on cybercrimes.

Positive Impacts:

It is important that police and investigation departments leverage technology effectively and
depend on digital evidence in order to establish cybercrime. Moreover AI technologies can
help the police better analyse, study and understand cybercrimes and develop such
technologies to prevent cybercrimes.

AI tools will improve performance over time by learning from human security analysts and
are capable of going through logs of data and spotting suspicious activities. They are
becoming extremely important with the huge log of data that need to be stored, can be helpful
to manage such large amounts of data and make them searchable, filterable and retrievable in
real-time.
AI can ensure 24/7 protection against cyber-attacks and will be able to detect, identify and
respond to threats and is much more efficient than human-based monitoring alone. Most
security breaches happen due to human error, a 2014 IBM study says that 95% of all
cybercrime results from human error.8 This can be prevented by integrating AI technologies
in the system.

Given that hackers are already using AI technologies, it is necessary to have AI enabled
response and having cyber security defences with AI is imperative.

Other ways in which AI are useful for the police are in video analysis where officers can
filter searches to look for specific characteristics and wouldn’t have to watch long videos to
find suspects or evidence, in audio analysis to find the person using their voice, to find
relevant parts of the audio or to print out the audio transcription, for gunshot detection, for
crime forecasting using predictive analytics or to find information from similar cases, for
forensic analysis and DNA analysis because most crimes today have a digital component to
them.

Negative Impacts:

People with knowledge about AI technologies can use it according to their need to target
people and collect their data. They can hone and improve the cybercrimes they commit. It
allows them to launch more sophisticated attacks.

AI technologies learn from the data feed to them and in the process store data. This data when
they reach the wrong hands can be used for cybercrimes. Here data security and privacy is a
major concern. For example, artificial intelligence technologies can be used to mimic one’s
voice after hearing recordings of the person speaking. XinhuaNet reports that there are AI
software programs that can speak any typed messages in a particular voice after hearing the
voice for twenty minutes.9 This technology can be used to collect sensitive data or to
command someone to do something over phone calls and the person on the other end will
mostly not suspect anything and would do as the caller said.

8
Lee Bruno, Why Machine Learning Should Be a Part of Your Digital Transformation, CIO (Mar. 11, 2021,
5:19 PM), https://www.cio.com/article/3262708/how-ai-can-stop-cybercrime.html.
9
Casey Crane, Artificial intelligence in cyber security: The savior or enemy of your business?, THE SSL STORE
(Mar. 11, 2021, 5:19 PM), https://www.thesslstore.com/blog/artificial-intelligence-in-cyber-security-the-savior-
or-enemy-of-your-business/#:~:text=The%20use%20of%20artificial%20intelligence,to%20launch%20more
%20sophisticated%20attacks.
Advanced AI technologies learn independently and adapt its understanding based on the data
it receives, the entire foundation of such technologies is data. There are chances of incorrect
and misleading data being put into the systems such that they affect the output or is beneficial
to the attacker.

It is wrong to keep the human component completely away from such technologies and
expect technology to solve every problem ethically. This is because technology would not be
able to understand complexities and absurdities of the Constitution, laws and policies as well
as human conduct in different situations. The goal of AI technologies should be to increase
the efficiency and effectiveness of the police and should not be a replacement for them.

CONCLUSION

The Kerala model of technology integration into the police force is an example for the other
states in the country. AI technologies make it easier to process complaints, conduct
investigations and in evidence collection. They help reduce the workload on the police by
performing simple administrative tasks and information dissemination to complex tasks of
audio, video or data analysis and help maintain proper records of data and information such
that they are easily available. However to solve the issue of cybercrimes mere integration of
technology is not enough. Also there are certain limitations in AI technologies which could
adversely affect the police’s ability to curtail cybercrimes. Increasing awareness among
people about cybercrimes, strengthening cybercrime investigation units across the state,
ensuring that the force does not lag behind technological advancements and most importantly
knowledge that AI technologies cannot completely replace humans is necessary.