Kenya Tags the Anonymity of Dark Web as “Significant Cyber Threat”

The surging effect of nefarious anonymity in cyberspace has pushed Kenya to raise fresh concerns. The country warns that hidden online IDs are now a major facilitator of advanced crime systems all over Africa. According to Interior PS Raymond, anonymity is driving a secret digital economy for criminal ventures to thrive without the intervention of law enforcement.

Omollo at the “Third African Forum on Cybercrime & Electronic Evidence in Nairobi,” spoke on how anonymity has curated broad, unregulated sectors where stolen personal credentials, high-tech hacking tools, and materials for child exploitation is openly monetized.

He said, “We must face the rising issue of anonymity in cyberspace. All over Africa, anonymity keeps impeding investigations, frustrating accountability, and complicating the availability of digital resources in front of the courts.” This challenge is global, as seen in a recent case where an FBI alert allegedly allowed an Australian dark web suspect to destroy evidence, highlighting the delicate balance of international cooperation.

Rising Nefarious Crimes – Consequences in Sight

According to Omollo, the aftermath is already evident, citing the discoveries by Interpol on the operations of cybercrime. Interpol recently disclosed an operation of cybercrime in Kenya that moved KES 1.1 billion via banking theft between the months of September and October 2024, Omollo said.

It even decoded a web fraud scheme that uses credit cards, resulting in losses of $8.6 million US dollars. On a global scale, it’s larger. By 2021, the 10 sites with the most nefarious sexual abuse resources on the unindexed part of the internet had over three million registered profiles, Omollo added.

Harmful anonymity has gone beyond digital crime, said PS Omollo. He hints at the recruitment of extremists into the network, fostering money laundering groups, human traffickers, smuggling systems, and digital stores for weapons, illicit drugs, and fake pharmaceuticals. It covers perpetrators, boosts organized crime, as well as leaves our society open to sophisticated threats beyond borders, he added.

As a countermeasure, Kenya plans to acquire rights-respecting “digital ID infrastructures” that safeguard legitimate users while allowing lawful monitoring of bad actors. Such monitoring often involves advanced techniques like social media monitoring with advanced cybersecurity skills, which are crucial for tracking criminal activity across platforms while balancing privacy concerns.

According to Omollo, other infrastructure can advertise your business while protecting people’s rights, as long as designers create it correctly.

Omollo stressed the necessity for African investigators to have greater technical competence by detailing the current lack of sufficient forensic material and cross-border assistance, as well as the mishandling of evidence.

“The inability to establish a proper chain of custody and different evidence preservation methods, along with insufficient knowledge, has all prevented us from successfully prosecuting a perpetrator,” Omollo stated.

Supreme Court Echoes Concerns, Highlights the Need for Evolution

SC Judge Justice Smokin Wanjala, upon echoing the worries, warns that the intricate nature of electronic evidence demands that judges, investigators, as well as prosecutors should evolve alongside cybercrime schemes.

“Until judges get proper equipment, they may not mete out justice in the expected approaches. We don’t conduct our training in silos. Together, we train to seamlessly investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate,” he spoke.

The country is fortifying international cooperation via systems like the Budapest Convention, signing new treaties with European as well as global associates for a new level of access to well-timed electronic evidence.

The Council of Europe’s Head of Operations, Virgil Spiridon, praised Kenya’s leadership at the “Cybercrime Programme Office.”

He said that they set up this forum in Kenya thanks to the country’s commitment, experience, and frontline role in tackling cybercrimes.