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All About The Dark Web

The document discusses the origins and development of the Tor network and dark web, including both legal and illegal uses. While the dark web provides anonymity and access to information for some, it also enables criminal activities like drug trafficking. Illegal dark web marketplaces fueled by bitcoin have grown but still represent a small portion of global illicit commerce.

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Loujie Jashenia Marie Villegas
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35 views

All About The Dark Web

The document discusses the origins and development of the Tor network and dark web, including both legal and illegal uses. While the dark web provides anonymity and access to information for some, it also enables criminal activities like drug trafficking. Illegal dark web marketplaces fueled by bitcoin have grown but still represent a small portion of global illicit commerce.

Uploaded by

Loujie Jashenia Marie Villegas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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In the late 1990s, two research organizations in the US Department of Defense drove efforts to

develop an anonymized and encrypted network that would protect the sensitive communications of
US spies. This secret network would not be known or accessible to ordinary internet surfers. And
while the original clandestine intention was never fully realized, some of the researchers saw a
different value proposition at hand—launching a nonprofit focused on anonymity for human rights
and privacy activists.

Enter the Tor network, short for “The Onion Router,” given the many layers of encryption that guard
passing information. Tor lives on the fringe of the internet and serves as the underlying technology of
the dark web—a collection of hidden sites inaccessible via a regular browser and not indexed by
search engines such as Google. The Tor browser—a free download—is all you need to unlock this
hidden corner of the web where privacy is paramount. Radical anonymity, however, casts a long
shadow.

The gray areas


Today, over 65,000 unique URLs ending with .onion exist on the Tor network. A 2018 study by
computer security firm Hyperion Gray catalogued about 10 percent of these sites and found that the
most prevalent functions facilitate communication via forums, chat rooms, and file and image hosts,
as well as commerce via marketplaces. These functional roles, particularly related to communication,
support many uses that are considered legal and legitimate in free societies. Furthermore, a 2016
study by research firm Terbium Labs analyzing 400 randomly selected .onion sites suggests that over
half of all domains on the dark web are in fact legal.

For individuals living under oppressive regimes that block large parts of the internet or punish political
dissent, the dark web is a lifeline that provides access to information and protection from
persecution. In freer societies, it can be a critical whistle-blowing and communication tool that shields
people from retribution or judgment in the workplace or community. Alternatively, it can simply
deliver privacy and anonymity for those wary of how corporations and governments are tracking,
using, and potentially monetizing their data. Today, many organizations maintain a hidden website on
Tor, including nearly every major newspaper, Facebook, and even the US Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA). This is because a Tor website demonstrates a (sometimes symbolic) commitment to privacy.
The New York Times and the CIA, for example, are both hoping to facilitate communication with
virtual walk-ins who can provide sensitive information.

On the flip side, the same privacy and anonymity that deliver protection from tyrants and targeted
advertisements also make the dark web a springboard for crime. Some of the more prevalent illicit
activities include arms trafficking, drug dealing, and the sharing of exploitative content—often
involving children—such as pornography and images of violence and other types of abuse. Websites
support the rhetoric of neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other extremist groups.

The pairing of dark web services with cryptocurrencies has led to expectations of a boom in crime. A
decade ago, an unknown cryptography expert (with particular expertise in cracking passwords) who
used the alias Satoshi Nakamoto developed the world’s first currency and payment network not
controlled by a national government: Bitcoin. Originally a niche medium of exchange for the
technology community, Bitcoin emerged in 2011 as the currency of choice for drug dealers conducting
transactions on a dark-web site known as the Silk Road. Over the past five years, the combination of
an encrypted network hidden from most of the world and a transactional currency that is nearly
untrackable by law enforcement officials resulted in a small, but significant, marketplace of illicit
vendors selling illegal wares.

Of the close to 200 domains catalogued as illegal by Terbium Labs, more than 75 percent appear to be
marketplaces. Many of these are fueled by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, such as Monero.
Recreational and pharmaceutical drugs are the most popular products, followed by stolen and
counterfeit documents such as identities, credit cards, and bank credentials. Some sites offer hacking
and technological crime services, including malware, distributed denial of service attacks, and hacking
for hire. A good number offer a mix of these and other products, including pornography and
counterfeit goods.
Although the serious nature and rapid growth of illicit transactions on the dark web should concern
governments and global financial institutions, the overall portion of worldwide commerce transacted
on the dark web is minuscule compared with global illicit commerce. A recent report by a leading
crypto-payment analytic firm, Chainalysis, shows that Bitcoin transactions on the dark web grew from
approximately $250 million in 2012 to $872 million in 2018. The firm projected that Bitcoin
transactions on the dark web will reach more than $1 billion in 2019. If correct, it would represent a
record-setting level of illegal transactions in this arena. The report also noted that the proportion of
Bitcoin transactions tied to illicit deals has declined by 6 percent since 2012 and now accounts for less
than 1 percent of all Bitcoin activity. Even more broadly, the United Nations estimates that the
amount of money laundered globally in one year is 2 to 5 percent of global GDP—between $1.6
trillion and $4 trillion.

Even though the total economic volume of illicit dark web activity remains relatively small, many of
the most corrosive threats to society today operate in the shadows of the Tor network and thus merit
the attention of international regulators, financial institutions, and law enforcement agencies.

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