Unindexed by search engines, the black web is a section of the internet. The “dark web” is a hotbed for illegal activity, as you’ve undoubtedly heard, and this is accurate. 2,723 active dark web sites’ content was categorized over five weeks in 2015 by researchers Daniel Moore and Thomas Rid from King’s College in London, who found that 57% of them host illicit materials.
According to a 2019 study by Dr. Michael McGuires at the University of Surrey titled “Into the Web of Profit,” the situation has gotten worse. Since 2016, there have been 20% more dark web listings that could harm businesses. 60% of all listings have the potential to hurt businesses.
Credit card numbers, various narcotics, weapons, fake cash, stolen login information for Netflix, and software to break into other people’s computers are among the things that can be purchased.
Purchase logins for a “lifetime” Netflix premium subscription, a $50,000 Bank of America account, phony $20 banknotes, or prepaid debit cards. You may pay hackers to break into computers on your behalf. Usernames and passwords can be purchased.
Dark Web Tools and Services
12 The Into the Web of Profit research outlined 12 kinds of tools or services that could represent a risk in the form of a network breach or data compromise:
- Malware, distributed denial of service (DDoS), and other types of assaults or infections, such as botnets.
- Access, such as keyloggers, vulnerabilities, and remote access Trojans (RATs).
- Services, customization, and targeting related to espionage Refunds.
- Client information.
- Operational Data.
- Assistance services like tutorials.
- Credentials.
- Phishing.
- Money information
- Trade secrets and intellectual property
- Other recent dangers
Three risk factors were also listed in the report, one for each category:
- Devaluing the business may happen if a competitor gains ground or if brand trust is undermined.
- Disrupting the business, such as through DDoS attacks or other malware that interferes with daily operations
- Enterprise fraud, such as intellectual property theft or espionage that harms a company’s capacity to compete or results in a direct financial loss;
RaaS kits have been accessible on the dark web for a while, but with the emergence of specialized criminal organizations like REvil and GandCrab, those products have grown significantly more dangerous.
These organizations create their sophisticated malware, occasionally combining it with already-existing tools, then disseminate it through “affiliates”. Through the dark web, the affiliates spread the ransomware kits. These attacks frequently include data theft and threats to post stolen information on the dark web.
This business strategy is effective and profitable. For example, IBM Security X-Force reported that in 2020, 29% of their ransomware engagements involved REvil. The criminal organizations that created the malware receive a portion of the affiliates’ profits, usually between 20% and 30%. REvil reportedly made $81 million in profits last year, according to IBM.
The Dark Web Browser
Because of all the bustle and the appearance of a bustling market, you would think that navigating the dark web is simple. It isn’t. The setting is as disorganized and chaotic as you would expect when everyone is anonymous and a large part of them are trying to swindle others.
Accessing the dark web requires using the Tor anonymizing browser. The Tor browser hides your IP address and eliminates tracking by routing your requests for internet pages through a global network of proxy servers run by thousands of volunteers. Tor functions like magic, but the results are as unreliable, unpredictable, and agonizingly slow as the black web itself.
The dark web offers a memorable look into the seamy side of the human experience for those who are ready to put up with the inconvenience, without running the danger of skulking around in a shady alley.
Dark Web Search Engine
Search engines for the dark web do exist, but even the best struggle to keep up with the environment’s continual change. The experience makes me think back to late 1990s web searches.
Even one of the better search engines, Grammar, produces repetitious and frequently useless results. Link directories like The Hidden Wiki are an alternative, but even indices make a depressingly high proportion of timed-out connections and 404 errors.
Dark Web Websites
Websites on the dark web resemble normal websites in appearance, but there are significant distinctions. The naming structure is the first. Dark web websites have an ending. onion rather than.com or. co. According to Wikipedia, this is a “special-use top-level domain suffix designating an anonymous hidden service reachable via the Tor network”. Browsers with the proper proxy can visit these websites, but others cannot.
Dark websites also have a disorganized naming scheme, which frequently produces URLs that are challenging to remember. For instance, the popular online store Dream Market’s website, “eajwlvm3z2lcca76.onion,” has a meaningless address.
Scammers create a lot of dark websites and shift around a lot to avoid the wrath of their victims. Even websites that have been operating for a year or more could suddenly disappear if the owners decide to cash out and take the escrow money that they are holding on behalf of customers with them.
The ability of law enforcement to track down and prosecute the operators of websites that sell illegal goods and services is improving. In the summer of 2017, a team of cyber police from three separate countries effectively knocked down AlphaBay, the main supplier of illicit items on the dark web, shaking the entire network.
But many businesspeople simply moved elsewhere. The Tor network is particularly susceptible to DDoS because of its anonymity, according to Patrick Tiquet, director of security & architecture at Keeper Security and the group’s resident DDoS specialist.
Types of Threats on the Dark Web
Is utilizing the dark web risky even if you’re just using it for basic privacy needs? Unfortunately, it has a real potential to be hazardous. The following are some typical risks you could encounter while browsing:
Malicious Software
Malicious software, or malware, is active throughout the dark web. It is frequently made available in some portals to provide threat actors with the means to conduct cyberattacks. However, just like it does on the rest of the web, it persists throughout the dark web to infect unwary victims.
The social contracts that website providers adhere to protect users on the rest of the web are less prevalent on the dark web. Users may regularly encounter particular types of malware, such as:
- Keyloggers
- Malware botnets
- Ransomware
- Phishing malware
The majority of malware attacks are detectable by your endpoint security software. If your computer or network connection is compromised, the dangers of online browsing could spread to the offline world. Although anonymity is effective because of Tor and the dark web’s infrastructure, it is not perfect. Any online behavior can leave traces that, with enough digging, could lead to your identity.
Government Monitoring
There is a real risk of becoming a government target for merely browsing a dark website because so many Tor-based sites have been taken over by law enforcement agencies around the world.
Police have previously taken control of drug markets like the Silk Road to conduct surveillance. Law enforcement agents have been able to identify the user identities of both customers and onlookers by using bespoke software to infiltrate and analyze behavior. Even if you never buy anything, you might be seen and implicate yourself for other actions in the future.
You run the danger of being watched for other kinds of activities as well if you are infiltrated. In certain nations, circumventing government limitations to investigate novel political views is a crime punishable by imprisonment. For precisely this reason, China utilizes the “Great Firewall” to restrict access to well-known websites. Visitors accessing this content run the danger of being put on a watchlist or being targeted right away for a jail term.
Scams
Some purported services, such as the professional “hitmen,” can merely be con games run by con artists to fleece unsuspecting victims. According to reports, the dark web provides a wide range of criminal services, including trafficking in guns, and paid assassinations.
Some of these circulate in this particular corner of the internet and are well-known, recognized hazards. However, there is a chance that others will take advantage of the dark web’s reputation to defraud users of a sizable sum of money. Additionally, some dark web users may try to steal your identity or personal information via phishing scams to demand money from you.
