Rs 3,000-crore ISI honey-trap network takes new shape, eyes India’s smaller towns with AI

The threat from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is no longer confined to handlers operating across the border.

Indian intelligence agencies are now confronting a more difficult proposition: a honey-trap network that could be built inside India’s smaller towns and villages, with artificial intelligence making it increasingly difficult to establish whether the person behind an online identity even exists.

According to intelligence inputs, the ISI is working to shift its honey-trapping operations from their traditional Pakistan-based structure to a largely India-based network.

The strategy is aimed at creating local modules that can recruit targets, establish contact and collect sensitive information without leaving an obvious trail leading back to Pakistan.

An Intelligence Bureau official said the change would present a fresh challenge for Indian agencies. For years, the honey-trapping machinery was being operated from Faridkot in Pakistan.

Between 2015 and 2019, the ISI had earmarked a massive Rs 3,000 crore for running the module, highlighting the scale of resources devoted to the operation.

The agency now wants these operations to be carried out within India, in line with a broader approach of keeping terror-related activities against the country 'home-grown' so that investigators find it harder to trace the chain back to Pakistan.

The choice of location is also significant. Rather than concentrating on metropolitan centres, the ISI is looking at smaller towns and villages, where recruitment can be easier and scrutiny comparatively lower.

An official said the ISI had earlier recruited people in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, who remained connected to handlers in Faridkot.

The new strategy is expected to widen this footprint, including into towns in southern India. Money, rather than ideology, could be one of the key recruitment tools.

Officials believe smaller-town recruits can be attracted with substantial financial incentives and subsequently used to operate local honey-trapping modules.

The nature of the traps is evolving as well. Recent investigations have found instances where pornographic material and nudity were used to compromise targets and extract sensitive information. Officials said attractive women had also been used to establish relationships with targets, particularly personnel connected to the defence establishment, before seeking information from them.

Artificial intelligence, however, could fundamentally alter that playbook.

Instead of relying entirely on real individuals, handlers can now use AI-generated images and videos of women to create convincing online identities.

This introduces a problem that is considerably harder for investigators to tackle: a target may believe he is communicating with a real person even when no such individual is behind the account.

For security agencies, identifying the actual perpetrator could consequently become more complicated.

The online persona may be fabricated, the photographs synthetic and the videos AI-generated, leaving investigators to follow a digital trail that may have little connection to a real-world identity.

The concern has become particularly acute as intelligence reports indicate that the ISI has also turned its attention towards newly appointed Agniveers.

Officials believe personnel with limited awareness of sophisticated online manipulation could be particularly vulnerable to AI-generated images and videos designed to appear authentic.

The central objective, however, remains unchanged: information about India's armed forces.

Officials said intelligence collected through such operations could provide Pakistan with information that may offer an advantage during a conflict.

It could also be used to embarrass or undermine the Indian armed forces. The intensity of these efforts has reportedly increased sharply since Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The operation exposed the extent of the Pakistani ecosystem involved in supporting terrorism and also called out Pakistan's nuclear bluff.

According to an official, Pakistan has since been seeking ways to retaliate, with honey-trapping efforts against Indian personnel increasing 'ten-fold'.

The objective, officials said, is not merely intelligence collection but also an attempt to damage the credibility of India's armed forces.

What makes the emerging threat particularly difficult is the combination of two shifts: the ISI wants its networks to operate from within India's own smaller towns, while AI gives those networks the ability to manufacture seemingly real identities from a distance.