In response to the Telegram Nth Room child porn scandal, the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) plans to develop an artificial intelligence-based software to trace cryptocurrency transactions on the dark web.
The government has been working on solutions since January, as authorities faced difficult obstacles amid the investigation of the operation in South Korea, which allowed people to buy access to child porn videos, Cointelegraph reported, citing local media outlet New Daily.
The KISA says that such software relies on machine-learning technology, which automatically monitors South Korean dark web sites that process crypto transactions. The authority that will oversee the operations is the Virtual Asset Handling Office (VASP).
The government agency will enter a pilot phase to test the software by 2022.
The alleged ring’s mastermind, Cho Joo-bin, currently in police custody, is refusing to cooperate with the investigators. This means the work of the authorities has been hampered, especially since many of the transactions conducted through the ring were in Monero (XMR) to strengthen anonymity.
Authorities are also concerned about the increase in crypto-related dark web deals within the country, with a trading volume skyrocketing over 1.5% compared to 2018 figures.
According to the figures disclosed by the agency, by 2023, between 7.9 billion won and 6 billion won ($4.9 million) in government contributions and 1,981 billion won of private money will be invested in the development of technologies for tracking virtual asset fraud.
On June 2, a South Korean court ordered a freeze on all the cryptocurrency wallets, securities deposits, and stocks accounts owned by Cho Joo-bin.