A to Z of the Darknet

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Shawn Craig
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1 A to Z of the Darknet

2 Professional acknowledgements The Investigator conferences Thomas Olofson Intelliagg author of Shining a Light on the Dark Web Colin Tansley Intelect Solutions Limited

3 A is for Anonymity The Dark Web (or Darknet) has been described as the Wild West of the internet. By using free tools that can easily be found online, anyone can become anonymous online, hiding their location and identity from visited sites.

4 B is for Bitcoin Bitcoin is the currency of choice on the Dark Web. Bitcoin is an unregulated cryptocurrency and it also allows exchanges to be made anonymously.

5 C is for China An estimated 4% of Dark Web users live in China. China has established a so-called Great Firewall that prevents Chinese internet users from accessing some websites. The Dark Web provides a way around these controls.

6 D is for Dread Pirate Roberts Ross Ulbricht, who operated under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts, created the Silk Road Darknet site. In 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to life for money laundering, hacking and drugs trafficking conspiracies.

7 E is for Encryption Dark Web sessions are encrypted, which theoretically means that they are encoded in a way that prevents a third party from eavesdropping on any communication or session. However, the NSA is reportedly building a database of Dark Web users.

8 F is for Forgery Among the estimated 30,000 Dark Web sites, there are some that offer forged documents, including passports and credit cards, in exchange for Bitcoin payments. About half of all Dark Web activities are believed to contravene UK or US laws.

9 G is for Governments + Surprisingly, the Dark Web s TOR project receives 80% of its $2 million annual budget from the US government. The Swedish government & other bodies provide the rest. The stated purpose is to aid democracy advocates in authoritarian states.

10 H is for Hackers Hackers actively use the Dark Web to communicate, navigate the internet, share stolen data and sell goods and services. Stolen passwords and hacking software are the most common items offered for sale.

11 I is for Investigators The FBI reportedly investigates some users emerging from known Dark Web exit nodes. Bitcoin wallet issuers might be asked to provide customer information when a crime is reported or suspected.

12 J is for Journalists Journalists regularly used the Dark Web, both as a source of news in its own right, and as a secure way of communicating with other sources. The Dark Web has almost certainly provided a great boost to journalistic freedom.

13 K is for Kamagra A lower cost alternative to Viagra, Kamagra is a very popular medication sold without prescription via the Dark Web. There are attendant risks; for example, use of Sildenafil isn t advised for people with high blood pressure.

14 L is for LinkedIn In May 2016 the full database of LinkedIn user s names and passwords, hacked sometime earlier, was released for sale on the Dark Net. LinkedIn states that is has already blocked this risk.

15 M is for Markets The Dark Web is home to a variety of markets, offering anonymous buyers the chance to purchase a wide range of illegal products. Most Dark Web markets can only be accessed via the TOR network. For background reading and the TOR URL visit Stolen credentials, chemicals, guns, jewellery, software and malware are just a few of the items listed.

16 N is for Narcotics Some Dark Web sites specialise in the sale of banned substances, including cocaine, meth, cannabis and Ecstasy. Buyers beware in this market; they don t know who they are buying from or what they might be getting.

17 O is for Opposition Political opposition groups around the world use Darknet services to communicate, motivate, coordinate their activities and report on events. In many cases, attempting to do this via the normal internet could lead to repression or worse.

18 P is for Pornography As with standard internet services, a great deal of Dark Web content is pornographic or abusive. Extreme offerings that are blocked on the open net are often hosted in secure and anonymous Darknet forums.

19 Q is for Quixotic Perhaps the notion of a publicly accessible anonymous and encrypted section of the internet was a misguided one. However valid the human rights argument may be, allowing criminals to use the resource is a mistake.

20 R is for Russia Another 4% of Dark Web users are Russian language speakers based outside Russia. A large proportion of these users are thought to be members of organised crime gangs, pushed out of Russia by President Putin s forceful anti-crime agenda.

21 S is for Searching There are several specialised Dark Web search engines that use a Google-type model for searching dark sites. Examples are Grams, TorchTorSearch and DeepDotWeb. All of these require users to have TOR running.

22 T is for TOR The Onion Router project provides the backbone for the Dark Web. TOR users enter the TOR network and are randomly taken though a series of proxies before arriving at their destination. There are reported to be 10,000 TOR nodes.

23 U is for Undercover Another likely motive for the initial creation of the TOR network was to provide intelligence operatives with a secure means of communication and anonymous browsing. However, this remains speculation.

24 V is for Victims There are victims of Dark Web activities. Fraud is one result of the sale of stolen credentials, but many Dark Web users are conned by sellers and ripped off, with goods not being delivered, or escrow funds being taken fraudulently.

25 W is for Weapons Several sites advertise the sale of weapons on the Dark Web, no questions asked. One investigative reporter recently attempted to purchase a rifle via this route, but in the end no goods were delivered.

26 X is for proxies Proxies are not unique to the Dark Web. A proxy is simply a server that is used as a relay when direct communication is blocked between two IP addresses. There are several other proxy services available online. Me 1 2 Proxy Site I want to visit

27 Y is for why? The original Dark Web project is said to have been the brain child of the US Navy. Some commentators opine that it is time to close this version down and think again about how to achieve the strategy.

$Z is for Zettabytes The Dark Web is actually a tiny fraction of the wider internet.$

28 Z is for Zettabytes The Dark Web is actually a tiny fraction of the wider internet. Many people confuse the Darknet with the Deep Web, a public space that holds 96% of internet data on sites that require users to register and log-in; over eight Zettabytes in total! However, a lot of Dark Web activity is criminal, and thus it deserves our close attention. <

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Dark Web. Ronald Bishof, MS Cybersecurity. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Dark Web. Ronald Bishof, MS Cybersecurity. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA Dark Web Ronald Bishof, MS Cybersecurity This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA Surface, Deep Web and Dark Web Differences of the Surface Web, Deep Web and Dark Web Surface Web - Web