Whether it’s gaining access to dark web communities dedicated to sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), or intercepting offenders’ attempts to communicate with children – undercover operations play a critical role in protecting children against exploitation and abuse. 

Nevertheless, covert deployments also pose many challenges. These span from the difficulties of risk assessing offenders to the psychological harms of viewing abuse material. 

We explore these challenges in more detail here, and consider how new technological advances might provide a beacon of hope for investigators. 

The vital role of undercover online (UCOL) investigations 

Recently, we spoke to former Detective Inspector Rob Chitham about the valuable role of undercover online (UCOL) tactics in victim and offender identification. He noted that one of the most important use cases of UCOL investigations is finding offenders who actively communicate with children in order to commit contact abuse. As he shares: 

“Undercover online tactics allow investigators to identify high-risk sexual offenders proactively, hopefully before they cause any harm to children.”

Watch our latest video on undercover investigatons into CSAM here.

Undercover operations also help investigators to identify offenders who generate and distribute CSAM online. By accessing online communities dedicated to this, investigators can trace the sharing of CSAM without relying on the clues that offenders typically hide, like financial transactions. 

To learn more about the vital role of covert operations, you can read Rob’s insights in full here: Protecting children with UCOL investigations – insights from the ground 

3 challenges of undercover police operations 

We also spoke to Rob about the many challenges of undercover operations. Here are three that affect law enforcement officers today. 

1. Risk assessing offenders 

“Sometimes, perpetrators engage in conversation that they will subsequently claim is just ‘fantasy’. This is often known as ‘fantasy chat’, but I believe this term diminishes the risk and importance of this conversation.” 

Undercover operations allow investigators to identify offenders who have either committed crimes against children or intend to – but who haven’t been reported to law enforcement. For instance, by finding offenders who distribute child sexual abuse material that they claim is first-generation. Or, by intercepting offenders who engage children to meet in real life. 

One of the major challenges here is assessing the risk that these people represent. Determining whether there is a real child at risk of abuse, and then directing resources to protect that child, is a critical part of investigators’ roles.  

As Rob discusses, it’s vital that investigators don’t underestimate the importance of ‘fantasy chat’ in this process. Offenders who claim their communications are nothing more than ‘fantasy’ may still have committed abuse, even if they haven’t represented it accurately. They may also be exploring ‘fantasies’ in preparation for future criminal activities. 

2. Knowledge sharing between offenders 

“Offenders are using more sophisticated techniques to remain anonymous. Often, you will come across forums on the dark web where offenders share tactics for evading detection.” 

One of the biggest challenges for investigators is that offenders regularly adopt new, increasingly sophisticated tactics to commit crimes against children. Offenders also share these tactics on dark web forums in order to facilitate others.  

For instance, one study from the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI) analysed forums where offenders encouraged each other to produce AI-generated CSAM, requested material to help them practice AI image generation, and shared tips for overcoming technical challenges. 

Rob confirmed that during his time in law enforcement, he also discovered dark web forums dedicated to disrupting UCOL operations. Some users shared tips for evading detection against undercover officers; others helped to prevent officers from gaining access to dark web communities. 

It’s for this reason that knowledge sharing between investigators is so important. As Rob puts it: 

“Even in cases that don’t result in an arrest, sharing tactics can help law enforcement agencies to develop best practices for future investigations.” 

3. Experiencing psychological trauma  

“Exposure to harmful imagery is appalling, and it can really affect investigators’ welfare. Investigators often have to read hundreds of pages of offender communications and descriptions of abuse, which is also very harmful.” 

Undercover operations can expose investigators to psychologically harmful situations. 

On the dark web, UCOL officers often need to immerse themselves in communities dedicated to distributing abuse material. On the clear web, where there is a risk of contact abuse, investigators need to understand the tactics that offenders use to coerce and groom children. 

These investigative techniques are often vital to the identification and subsequent protection of victims. They are also necessary to gather evidence later relied upon in court. Nevertheless, viewing abuse material can be psychologically harmful for investigators, who may face stress and trauma after being involved in undercover operations.  

Read more on this topic: Investigators’ wellbeing in CSAM cases – a Q&A with Rob Chitham

How technology is combatting investigator challenges 

Although UCOL tactics cannot be outsourced to technology completely, new capabilities are being developed to help law enforcement accelerate investigations and mitigate trauma to both themselves and to victims. 

Some of these technological advancements include: 

• AI tools that produce written summaries of abuse material, to reduce the time that investigators need to spend on analysing the content. This is particularly important for investigators who seize large datasets of CSAM from offenders operating on dark web communities.  
• Tools that analyse open-source intelligence (OSINT) to help investigators supplement the human intelligence (HUMINT) they extract from engaging with offenders. For instance, OSINT tools that give investigators insight into offenders’ social media activity, travel patterns, and even their contact details and address. 
• AI image detection tools that help investigators to understand the techniques used to develop AI-generated abuse material. While offenders share techniques for generating photorealistic AI content, AI image detectors can help investigatorsto outpace them. They can help to quickly identify when content has been modified or generated with AI, and uncover the tactics used to do so.  

Moving forward, undercover operations need to combine technologies like these with investigators’ own intuition and reasoning. 

Jon Rouse, Founding Partner of Onemi-Global Solutions, summarised the need for this balance in a recent conversation around AI image detection: 

“AI also often lacks the wider context we rely on in investigations. It can highlight a suspicious image, but it can’t tell you about the relationship between the offender and the victim, or whether a child is in immediate danger. That judgement still belongs to trained analysts and investigators.” 

For more of Jon’s insights, read this article next: Detecting AI CSAM – a vital investigative capability  

Understanding children’s safety online [Free report] 

To continue learning about the threats to children’s safety online, and the challenges that face investigators as they combat them, consider downloading our free Child Safety Online Report.  

Inside, you’ll learn more about the tactics being used by offenders to target children across the clear and dark web, and how technology could help to pave a safer way forward.