Cyber-enabled human intelligence in law enforcement: international and domestic patterns

Vladimir Zhandrov

UDC

343

VAK Russia

5.1.4

CYBER-ENABLED HUMAN INTELLIGENCE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT: INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC PATTERNS Cyber-enabled human intelligence in law enforcement: international and domestic patterns

АА Аа

Published in Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia · Pages 127–138 · Rubric: CRIMINAL LAW SCIENCES

Received: 11.08.2025 Accepted: 25.12.2025 Published: 30.12.2025 Language of publication: RUS

Authors

Vladimir Zhandrov

ORCID

Vladimir Zhandrov

Academic degree: candidate of jurisprudence sciences

Science rang: docent

Vladimir Kikot Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia operativno-razysknoy deyatel'nosti i special'noy tehniki · Moscow

ORCID

ABSTRACT

Introduction. The The transformation of crime in the context of digital technology development has created a need to adapt Human Intelligence methods to the new technological reality. Internationally, there has been a growing movement to codify rules that provide a legal foundation for undercover operations in cyberspace. The implementation of Human Intelligence methods in Russia’s digital environment presents a complex and evolving challenge, necessitating the establishment of a robust theoretical and legal foundation for its application in combating cybercrime. Methods. The conceptualisation of the cyber agent operations method was achieved via synthesis. The legitimacy and standardisation of a special regime for agent activities in the information and telecommunications environment were substantiated through an analysis of relevant United Nations legal instruments. To identify common trends in the legal regulation of agent work in cyberspace, the comparative method was applied to emerging legislative models of the United States and a number of Western European states. The determination of the boundaries of permissibility and the limits of legality for agent cyber-operations was achieved through the method of studying decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. Results. The research establishes the necessity of incorporating the method of cyber agent operations (the cyber agent method) into both scholarly and legal frameworks as a form of agent-based activity adapted to the digital environment. The research indicates that the success of such operations relies on synergizing technical tools with human intelligence, whereas their lawfulness requires explicit legal provisions, layered supervision, and compliance with the tenets of necessity, proportionality, and safeguarding fundamental rights. It is proposed to establish a framework for a Russian model of cyber-enabled human intelligence. This framework necessitates the legal recognition and regulation of a “confident” (confidential informant), including the specific conditions for their lawful deployment in the information and telecommunications environment, the implementation of a multi-tiered authorization system with dual oversight mechanisms; and the meticulous documentation of every phase of the confidents’ operational involvement; the engagement of independent supervisory and judicial mechanisms; and the protection of confidentiality alongside the prevention of impermissible provocations in countering cybercrime.

KEYWORDS

cyber agent-based method; methods of operational investigative activities Human Intelligence; cybercrime; undercover operations; international standards; instigation of a crime

Text

Text (PDF)

Read Download

1. Osipenko A. L. Uchastie grazhdan v protivodeystvii prestupnosti v sfere informacionnyh tehnologiy // Vestnik Krasnodarskogo universiteta MVD Rossii. 2025. № 2 (68). S. 6–15.

2. Gusev V. A. Cifrovaya gigiena vs. kiberprestupnost' // Psihopedagogika v pravoohranitel'nyh organah. 2022. T. 27, № 1 (88). S. 102–108. https://doi.org/10.24412/1999-6241-2022-188-102-10

3. Chechetin A. E. Bor'ba s kiberprestupnost'yu trebuet naraschivaniya usiliy // Aktual'nye problemy bor'by s prestupleniyami i inymi pravonarusheniyami. 2025. № 25. S. 123–125.

4. Osipenko A. L. Operativno-rozysknaya deyatel'nost' v informacionnom obschestve: adaptaciya k usloviyam cifrovoy real'nosti // Nauchnyy vestnik Omskoy akademii MVD Rossii. 2019. № 4 (75). S. 38–46. https://doi.org/10.24411/1999-625X-2019-14007

5. Shahmatov A. V. Sovremennoe sostoyanie i problemy konfidencial'nogo sodeystviya grazhdan operativnym podrazdeleniyam organov vnutrennih del / Operativno-razysknoe protivodeystvie prestupleniyam ekonomicheskoy napravlennosti i korrupcii: peredovoy opyt, problemy i puti ih resheniya : materialy vserossiyskoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferencii, g. Sankt-Peterburg, 29 maya 2020 g. Sankt-Peterburg : Sankt-Peterburgskiy universitet MVD Rossii, 2020. S. 214–220.

6. Shahmatov A. V. Sodeystvie grazhdan v pravoprimenitel'noy praktike preduprezhdeniya i raskrytiya prestupleniy organami vnutrennih del / Aktual'nye voprosy protivodeystviya organizovannoy prestupnosti v Rossii (pamyati professora D. V. Rivmana) : materialy regional'noy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferencii, g. Sankt-Peterburg, 28 noyabrya 2014 g. Sankt-Peterburg: Sankt-Peterburgskiy universitet MVD Rossii, 2014. S. 16–19.

7. Rumyancev N. V., Shkabin G. S. Nauchnyy diskurs v sfere operativno-razysknoy deyatel'nosti : obzor dokladov Mezhvedomstvennoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferencii v NII FSIN Rossii // Nauchnye issledovaniya prestupleniya i nakazaniya. 2025. № 2 (22). S. 63–74.

8. Lymarev A. V. Agenturnaya razvedka (HUMINT) v bor'be s mezhdunarodnym terrorizmom: opyt SShA // Yaroslavskiy pedagogicheskiy vestnik. 2011. T. 1, № 4. S. 160–163.

9. Klimov I. A., Sinilov G. K., Tuzov L. L. Agenturnyy metod zaschity interesov lichnosti, obschestva, gosudarstva i bor'by s prestupnost'yu : monografiya / pod obsch. red. G. K. Sinilova. Kaliningrad : Kaliningradskiy yuridicheskiy institut MVD Rossii, 2002. 334 s.

10. Osipenko A. L. Organizovannaya prestupnaya deyatel'nost' v kiberprostranstve: tendencii i protivodeystvie // Yuridicheskaya nauka i praktika: Vestnik Nizhegorodskoy akademii MVD Rossii. 2017. № 4 (40). S. 181–188.

11. Latynin E. V. Realizaciya agenturnogo metoda v sledstvennyh izolyatorah na primere operativno-rozysknogo meropriyatiya «operativnoe vnedrenie» / Ugolovno-ispolnitel'naya sistema: pedagogika, psihologiya i pravo : materialy Vserossiyskoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferencii, g. Tomsk, 10–11 oktyabrya 2019 g. Tomsk : Tomskiy institut povysheniya kvalifikacii rabotnikov FSIN, 2019. Vyp. 7. S. 174–180.

12. Tetzlaff-Bemiller M. J. Undercover Online: An Extension of Traditional Policing in the United States // International Journal of Cyber Criminology. 2011. Vol 5. Is. 2. R. 813–824.

13. Lannier S. Infiltrating virtual worlds. The regulation of undercover agents through fundamental rights // Revista Brasileira de Direito Processual Penal. 2024. T. 10, Is. 3. R. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.22197/rbdpp.v10i3.1066

14. Shahmatov A. V. Nekotorye voprosy pravovogo regulirovaniya sodeystviya grazhdan operativnym podrazdeleniyam OVD // Operativno-rozysknaya deyatel'nost' v sovremennyh usloviyah : materialy mezhvedomstvennoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferencii, g. Sankt-Peterburg, 22–23 iyunya 2023 g. Sankt-Peterburg : Sankt-Peterburgskiy universitet MVD Rossii, 2023. S. 208–212.

15. Lugovik V. F., Vazhenin V. V. Razvitie osvedomitel'stva kak mirovaya tendenciya // Obschestvo i pravo. 2020. № 4 (74). S. 71–75.

16. Osipenko A. L., Gaydin A. I. Problemy fiksacii dokazatel'stvennoy informacii v elektronnom vide // Obschestvennaya bezopasnost', zakonnost' i pravoporyadok v III tysyacheletii. 2015. № 1-1. S. 44–51.

17. Hromov I. L., Ezrohin P. V. Ispol'zovanie special'nyh znaniy v operativno-rozysknoy deyatel'nosti // Nauchnyy portal MVD Rossii. 2018. № 1 (41). S. 62–66.

18. Samodelkin A. S. Ob'ektivnye kriterii ocenki deyatel'nosti organov, osuschestvlyayuschih operativno-rozysknuyu deyatel'nost', i ih znachenie v bor'be s prestupnost'yu // Obschestvo i pravo. 2025. № 2 (92). S. 65–75.

19. Osipenko A. L. Sbor informacii i policeyskie operacii po protivodeystviyu organizovannoy prestupnosti v kiberprostranstve: zarubezhnyy opyt // Obschestvo i pravo. 2021. № 1 (75). S. 47–55.

20. Murray D., Fussey P., McGregor L. Effective Oversight of Large Scale Surveillance Activities: A Human Rights Perspective// Journal of National Security Law & Policy. 2021. No. 11. URL: https://jnslp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Effective_Oversight_of_Large_Scale_Surveillance_Activities_2.pdf (data obrascheniya: 17.07.2025).

GOST

Zhandrov V. Y. Cyber-enabled human intelligence in law enforcement: international and domestic patterns // Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. 2025. no. 4. pp. 127-138. (Date of access 07.09.2026).

MLA

Vladimir Zhandrov. "Cyber-enabled human intelligence in law enforcement: international and domestic patterns." Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 2025.4 (2025): 127-138.

APA

Zhandrov V. Y. (2025). Cyber-enabled human intelligence in law enforcement: international and domestic patterns. Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2025(4), 127-138.

Chicago

WIKI

{{cite journal | author = Zhandrov V. Y. | title = Cyber-enabled human intelligence in law enforcement: international and domestic patterns | journal = Vestnik of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia | year = 2025 | volume = 2025 | issue = 4 | pages = 127-138 }}

Copy

Export: BibTeX EndNote RefMan RusMARC

CYBER-ENABLED HUMAN INTELLIGENCE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT: INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC PATTERNS Cyber-enabled human intelligence in law enforcement: international and domestic patterns

Confirmation