The data that support the findings of this study are available from Flashpoint Intelligence but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. For example, AlphaBay rewarded a hacker for finding one such bug earlier in January this year, while a month later, the Hansa Dark Web marketplace opened a bug bounty program with rewards up to $10,000 per privately reported bug. “Last thing I knew on the market was that over $20k that was stuck over that weekend was just released and paid out,” the admin said. “They’re either the dumbest exit scammers I know of, or it was not an exit scam at all.”
Understanding Dark Web Marketplaces
DarkMarket was uncovered as part of a larger investigation into web-hosting company Cyberbunker, The Guardian reports. “Cyberattacks have evolved from targeting computers, networks, and smartphones to encompassing individuals, automobiles, railways, aircraft and power grids — any entity with a heartbeat or an electronic pulse,” warns Cybersecurity Ventures. One Darknet Analysis Project highlighted the proliferation of personal protective equipment for sale (e.g. masks, gowns, and test kits) as well as various purported medications, antidotes and serums.
“Really the only things that are viable to transact on the dark web are things that are easily transferrable and have repeat customers, so digital goods and things that can be popped into the mail like small quantities of drugs,” Ormsby said. “Anything not easily transferrable there’s not a big market for. There are weapons markets, but they are very, very tiny and very few transactions successfully made on the weapons markets.” The dark web primarily refers to sites and content that reside on overlay networks rather than the traditional internet; these sites, often referred to as “hidden services,” require specialized web browsers to access.
Impreza rents servers, registers domains, and hosts email similar to sites like GoDaddy. The anonymity of onion sites is the main draw of the dark web, and most dark web links are hosted on “.onion” domains due to the sensitive nature of the businesses or services they host. Onion sites may offer secure access to cryptocurrency wallets or anonymous email clients. Examples of these web domains were “coronavintheworld.com,” “covid-conspiracy.net,” and “coronavirusmasks.in.” Prices of these domains were low and less than 10 USD. In the main text, we performed a longitudinal analysis of the time evolution of all COVID-19 specific listings and all listings mentioning COVID-19, as well as the PPE and medicines categories, as shown in Fig.
It also includes other resources that owners have intentionally prevented web crawlers from indexing.The dark web falls into that last category. It’s a part of the deep web that visitors can’t access without the help of a special browser known as The Onion Router (or TOR). People can use the dark web for legitimate purposes such as joining a chess club and creating a channel for private communication, notes CSO. Alternatively, they can use it for nefarious purposes.At least some of that activity takes place on dark web marketplaces (or “dark markets”). According to Nature, dark markets are places where members can trade in illicit goods such as drugs and weapons.
The dark web refers to a part of the internet that isn’t indexed by traditional search engines, requiring specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. One of the most notable features of the dark web is the existence of dark web marketplaces, which serve as platforms for buying and selling goods and services, often illicit in nature.
What Are Dark Web Marketplaces?
Dark web marketplaces are online platforms that facilitate the trade of illegal items such as:
We focus on two kinds of transactions, occurring (i) between the user and a DWM and (ii) between two users of the same DWM. The result is 40 distinct marketplace ego networks containing user-DWM and U2U transactions, whose typical structure is depicted in Fig. In each network, links are directed and the arrows point at the receiver of Bitcoin. Since users often migrate from one DWM to another12 and become users of multiple DWMs, the 40 ego networks are not isolated but can be combined to form one full network, as shown in Fig.
The crawling pipeline consists of authenticating into DWMs and downloading key attributes for each active listing, as highlighted in Fig. We categorized the COVID-19 specific listings into PPE, medicines, guides on scamming, web domains, medical frauds, tests, fake medical records, and ventilators. For instance, a vendor might sell cocaine and mention shipping delays due to COVID-19. For details about data pre-processing, see Appendix A, where we explain how we select listings related to COVID-19 and how we classify them in categories. We remark that our pre-processing pipeline is biased towards the English language, and this constitutes a limitation of our work. Dark web marketplaces (DWMs) offer access to the shadow economy via specialized browsers, like Tor [13].
- Drugs
- Stolen data and personal information
- Counterfeit currencies and documents
- Weapons
- Hacking services
These marketplaces typically operate on the Tor network, where users can remain anonymous through the use of encrypted communications and cryptocurrency transactions.
How Do Dark Web Marketplaces Operate?
The operation of dark web marketplaces can be broken down into several key components:
- Access: Users require specific tools, like the Tor browser, to access these sites without revealing their identity.
- Listings: Vendors create listings for their products, often accompanied by ratings and reviews provided by past buyers.
- Payments: Cryptocurrency is commonly used due to its anonymity, with Bitcoin being the most popular choice.
- Escrow services: Many marketplaces offer escrow systems to protect both buyers and sellers during transactions.
- Security measures: Various methods are employed to enhance security, including two-factor authentication and encrypted communications.
Popular Dark Web Marketplaces
Some of the most notorious dark web marketplaces in recent years have included:
- Silk Road – One of the first and most famous dark web marketplaces that was shut down by law enforcement.
- AlphaBay – A leading marketplace that was taken down in 2017 but has since been replaced by other platforms.
- Dream Market – Known for its extensive range of goods and active community.
- Wall Street Market – Gained popularity before its shutdown, known for a wide array of products.
Risks Associated with Dark Web Marketplaces
While the allure of purchasing goods anonymously may seem appealing, engaging with dark web marketplaces poses significant risks:
What To Expect When You’ve Been Hit With Avaddon Ransomware
- Legal ramifications: Purchasing illegal items can lead to severe legal consequences.
- Scams and fraud: Many vendors may not fulfill their promises or may not deliver products at all.
- Cybersecurity threats: Users may expose themselves to malware or hacking attempts.
- Loss of privacy: While designed for anonymity, users can still be traced through various means.
FAQs about Dark Web Marketplaces
Q1: Are all transactions on dark web marketplaces illegal?
A1: While many transactions involve illegal goods, some marketplaces may offer legal services or products.
Q2: How can I access dark web marketplaces safely?
A2: Using a reliable VPN along with the Tor browser is recommended, but users should still exercise caution and be aware of the risks.
Q3: What happens when a dark web marketplace is shut down?
A3: Many vendors simply migrate to new platforms, while law enforcement may seize domains and arrest operators.
Q4: Can I trust user reviews on these marketplaces?
A4: User reviews can be manipulated; thus, they should be taken with caution and not entirely relied upon for trustworthy information.
- While you might be curious to explore these darknet marketplaces yourself, our general advice would be to steer clear of them.
- Whenever a DWM is shut down, users swiftly migrate to alternative active DWM and the economic activity recovers within a matter of days [19].
- “We don’t see ransomware going away, but we do see it evolving over time,” Holland says.
- Some examples of this are DarkBay, where banned categories include human trafficking, contract killing and weapons [61], and Monopoly marketplace, where COVID-19 fake vaccine listings were recently banned by moderators [62].
- We have used our dark web monitoring tool Lunar to see how popular this site is and we have identified an increase in the volume of activity on this site over the past year.
In conclusion, while dark web marketplaces present an intriguing aspect of the internet, they are fraught with dangers and illegality. Understanding their operation and associated risks is crucial for anyone curious about navigating this hidden part of the web.
