Unweaving the big bad dark web – ex intelligence officer spills the beans
Andrew Fordred, ex-Intelligence Officer for the South African Police and cyber security expert will be giving a talk called ‘the Dark Web, what is it?’ on 15 January 2019 at 19:30 hosted by the Namibia Scientific Society.
He will focus on how the Dark Web is purposely hidden and how it is the modern criminal underground. He will further show how it is an activist communication channel therefore an area of intrigue which adds mystery to most Hollywood films.
The talk will also provide an overview and real live examples of the Dark Web, how it could impact ordinary internet users’ lives such as those annoying scam emails, to the absolute lure of dangerous drug dealers and hit men.
Fordred said that without the internet it would not be possible to use email or communicate with family or friends, do online banking, conduct business and research, follow latest news and numerous other online activities. “We also know Google or other search engines, can find us information about a topic of interest, plan our next overseas trip, find restaurants in a strange city, look up long lost friend and more, but do we really know how it works, because below all this is another 96% of web activity including the Dark Web,” he added.
Fordred served as an intelligence officer for the Crime Intelligence Service of the South African Police with the then Organised Crime Intelligence Unit. After leaving the police service, he held a number of corporate positions until 2007 when he started his own business doing forensic investigations, intelligence, risk management consultancy, court testimony and litigation support. He completed a forensic investigation degree focusing on forensic intelligence with a qualitative case study of the Cali drug cartels. Currently he is providing due diligence, intelligence and cyber security services to clients with emphasis on open source intelligence and the dark web.
