Dark Web : Relations with the Sinful World & illegal activities
keywords – Deep Web, Dark net, Internet, Illegal Activities
In the early 1990s, the idea of connecting the combination of the INTERNET & the WORLD WIDE WEB gave a new direction to technology & inventions. That is when the world was moving towards globalization, and the 1994-2004 revolutionary era, gave birth to new highly technical gadgets. Those highly advanced technologies & inventions made the world very handy.
Unknowingly or ignoring that intelligent minds can also get greedy, illegal activities can turn into sinful dangerous acts, and international criminals can hire technical-innovative brains to work on the “DARKNET & DARK WEB.” during that diversifying era of the world.
In 2000, a University of Edinburgh student Ian Clarke created a database of information safe storage; known as ‘DISTRIBUTED DECENTRALIZED DATABASE & RETRIEVE SYSTEM STORED IN DEEP WEB‘ with the onion shield software’s. The aim was to create a new anonymous way for the community to share files and data online.
Importance Of Deep Web
Corrupted intelligent minds, hackers to the illegal ‘dark web (onion web) or silk route’
The deep web is a backbone of globalization by creating more business & job opportunities, easy & fast money transactions, and a handy worldwide connection. But greedy technical minds joining hands with unlawful underworld businesses, criminals & sinful activities used the crucial informational data illicitly, known as “DARK WEB.”
The dark web was born in America in September 2002. The US navy intelligence used the technology to communicate with their agents to keep the information anonymous and secret. Later the American government introduced it to the human species to exchange information responsibly for positive development.
Before introducing the ‘SILK ROUTE’ (Route to reach online black market where web surfers could buy and sell illicit or banned goods anonymously) among the spices, the software developers developed the multi-layers protection of software (The Onion Router), and if any anonymous person misuses the road to go in the wrong direction, then the software can detect the DNS server and its IP address.
After the public launch, the developers noticed that the software onion router (TOR) had loopholes and glitches. Unidentified illegal activities came up, but due to a lack of evidence, nothing got proven, as the DNS & IP address were untraceable for the developers. Hackers were much more intelligent and entered the protected layers of TOR software. Many illicit activities got associated with the underworld crime world, and the silk route allowed the people to reach the online black-market
(Tor was a free and open software during its launch in 2002 for maximum security)
The dark web is a small part of surfing, yet the onion web market is booming, the economy driving cybercrime to reach new heights. The ‘spear phishing process‘ (a campaign that targets valuable information leakage) of hackers and cybercriminals provides secured meetings & systems to the illicit powerful underworld criminals and organizations. Those activities are adding tremendous pressure on cybersecurity teams. They have to work 24 hours around the clock for the cyber world security system.
Challenges for cyber securities organizations
• Dark web activities increased by 300% in the last 2-3 years.
• Ransomware Attacks. Ransomware is the biggest concern now in the digital world
• Satellites affiliated with cybercrime gangs pay around 15-20% to the leading organization of their group.
• 53% of users are involved in illegal activities on the onion web.
• Approximately 80% of the illegal pornography on the dark web traffic is involved in child pornography, and it is not easily assessable.
• About 68% of criminal organizations are dependent on spear phishing.
• Hackers attack security systems an average of 2,44 times per day.
• Terrorist statics reports reviled that 50,000 extremist groups exist there.
• Drugs dealing & arms online dealing on onion web
Hackers & illicit activities
1. In 2000 Denial of Service (DDoS) virus numerous attacks on AOL, Yahoo, and eBay browsers corrupted many operating systems.
2. In 2002 the shadow crew black got launched, where the members used to learn & share their hacking and escaping route experiences with black hat hackers. (Shadow crew got banned after two years of its launch)
3. In 2003 SQL slammer virus infected SQL services, infection was so effective that the worldwide servers got slow, and the damage speed of the worm affected more than 750k computers in 10 minutes.
4. The worst time for the dark web launchers came in 2007 when worldwide sensitive data got compromised due to the release of the ‘BLACK SWAN VIRUS.’ The bubble burst, stock records got destroyed or stolen, investments in subprime mortgages went on hold, and banks were left in crises, causing worldwide losses of more than $ 2 Trillion.
(As per the USA and other countries government reports, the Chinese government is accused of hacking and spreading Black Swan Virus)
The darkest secret of the dark web & underworld links got exposed.
The birth of the Tor browser & evil activities in the cyber world
Tor gained popularity, and the users demanded the creators to pressure the government to publicize their thoughts freely and access restricted websites. In 2008 the developers created a platform for dark web users by creating a tor browser. With the birth of the tor browser, a few more software developers like ‘Freenet, WHO nix, and Opera’ have introduced their browsers to assess the silk route smoothly and remain anonymous in the dark web world. That darkness can spread the infection in any operating device with viruses, malware, trojans, ransomware, or other malicious files. That helps hackers or cyber criminals to escape and remain unidentified. Those easy-route escapers allowed evil societies to spread their evilness, and the demand to safeguard civilized society increased. Those illegal activities and criminals have spread their toxins around the world.
During 2009-2010 cyber controllers sported that the silk route (onion web) became the popular marketplace or hotpot for hackers and other cybercriminals, illicit activities were rising, getting provoked, and untraceable IP addresses by developing complicated software. They spread their high-tech worms into cyber controllers operating systems, and lucky-minded escapers manages to escape. Those greedy masterminds of an evil route expert join hands with underworld criminals and sinful organizations responsible for human trafficking, illegal prostitution, child abuse, drug dealers, terrorist groups, cybercriminals, and mafia people.
2009: The release of CRYPTOCURRENCY, money laundering through the onion web & ban on the silk route in 2013
The undefined or mysterious personality SATOSHI NAKAMOTO’ of the world has created the most expensive digital blockchain currency known as ‘BITCOIN’.
A pseudonym personality for the people who bought the revolution, which made the online transaction very easy and got noticed by criminal minds. Since 2010, dark world organizations or criminal mafia groups have s shifted their money laundering process through blockchain cryptocurrency & the onion web creators hide all the traces through their high-tech software. After the ban on the silk route in 2013, money launderers with cybercriminals came up with the idea of using bitcoin for dealing. That has activated more illegal and sleeping cells to perform their criminal activities, and some political powers got active on the dark web, causing a threat to their own country by sharing crucial information and confidential documents.
• Drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia are increasingly using cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin to launder money, International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) declared in the recent un-linked in 2022.
• 20% of terror attacks may be financed by crypto, up from 5% a few years ago. 2022 report by Svetlana Martynova (CFT) Coordinator, Senior Legal Officer at United Nations.
• Social media is a new venue for human trafficking, by hacking the user’s personal information & data. 59% got recruited forcefully or by blackmailing for active sex trafficking through Facebook. 65% are underage victims recruited through Facebook, 14% through Instagram, and 8% through Snapchat.
Digital currency is getting used more and more in human trafficking. USA Government Accountability Office (GAO) earlier this year report
(2020 active criminal sex trafficking cases recorded through Facebook, which went up by 4- 7% in 2021)
The hub for money launderers & illegal clubs is $8.6 billion in cryptocurrency in 2021 alone – which is 30% more transaction in 2020.
100 Bitcoin = 1669270 US Dollar (USD)
The Future of the Deep Web
The deep web has changed the face of the Internet. It is launched publicly for development, friendly to use, and helps others. But it has turned on the evil side, which leads many to questions related to trust issues.
The future of the deep web is uncertain because of greedy intelligent minds, as governments and cybersecurity teams are working around the clock continuously to crack down on illegal activities. Potential changes could be coming soon on the dark web in the coming years.
Ransomware attacks are the most threatening concern among regular users. Hackers with evil intentions take advantage of your personal and financial information, then you pay a ransom fee to get free, or youngsters have to follow the wrong path. Categories and price lists for selling personal data are available on the dark web. Information creates curiosity in criminals’ minds and takes advantage of how lucrative the data is.
For instance, you can limit where your data is stored on the deep web or create passphrases instead of passwords.
Tor network gives messages on your device through which the user’s internet connection is broadcasting (volunteer relay). The connection is encrypted, and all the traffic bounces between broadcasters globally, making your browsing anonymous. Firefox and Tor Browser allow surfing the clear web and dark web. All your traffic will automatically get routed through the tor network. Download the Tor Browser only from the official website, so there will be no risk factor of downloading malware, spyware, or any other virus to your device.
Tor browser is officially available on Windows, Mac, Android, and Linux. Many experts advise not to use 3rd person mobile browsers using the Tor Network. To hide the tor browser download using a VPN and your existing browser’s, use private/incognito mode.
All the details of surfing the dark net are available on the surface web, but it is on the surfer how to use it. The intention of gaining knowledge and giving it the right direction is the source of development. Hackers and cybercriminals can destroy the empire of illicit activities.
Written By : Ankur Verma
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