Dark-web Marketplace
The good and evil sides of the Markets
In recent years, the Darknet has become one of the most discussed topics in the field of cyber security due to their anonymous nature, privacy, digital currencies… and what not!
The “Dark web” is a hidden world where good and evil coexist. On the brighter side, the dark web provides you anonymity, privacy, and highly secure communication routes to protect reform agents such as human rights activists and journalists who are targeted by oppressive foreign regimes.
On the darker side, the dark web has become an immense center of criminal activity, a fully working marketplace where buyers and sellers may buy things heroically without any fear of detection, just as they can do on the public web.
When I heard the word ‘Darknet Markets’ for the first time, I am much more curious to know more and has several doubts in my mind,
- What are these Darknet Markets?
- Can normal users purchase anything from this market?
- How does user-pay if anyone buys anything from the Dark markets?
- How’s and who’s is going to deliver your order?
- All the things are illegal or are there any legal things happening? etc etc.
Mostly, we heard the news related Darkweb markets are negative in nature such as Human trafficking, Child abuse, Drug Deals, Information leaks but there is a positive side too. Let’s uncover some facts and rumors of these marketplaces in this article! Today we’re reading through the Darkweb markets, the way you can access and also the good and evil sides of these marketplaces. So, stay tuned!
Since most people believe that the Dark Web is illegal, either to access or due to what goes on there. So, I want to reassure you, there is nothing like good or bad it’s up to you for which purpose you use it. There are numerous marketplaces and vendors that exist there but the main reason why most of them are unknown is that they were often taken down quickly by LEA due to illegal acts. Somewhere, because of the privacy and anonymity, the criminal takes much more advantage of the Darkweb and since then it has a more negative reputation.
Not all of them will be scary, morbid, or gross. Some of them will be of a positive nature, outlining how people put the Dark Web to use for whistle-blowing, sharing information, marketing, buying and selling, providing medical help, and much more.
DarkMarket is the largest illicit marketplace in the world — an unverifiable claim, since a handful of similarly vibrant bazaars, are currently operating on the dark Web. These markets are, without doubt, highly lucrative and the owners of such Web sites typically take a commission on each sale, which might be one of the reasons we have seen these people have luxurious life in the movies :)
Any details related to these marketplace is only for your Information purpose I don’t have any intend to promote or encourage the use of any marketplace.
What are the Dark-net Marketplace?
Darknet markets are sites on the dark web where people can buy or sell illicit goods and services online. Transactions in darknet markets are anonymized and take place via cryptocurrency. Mostly they use Bitcoin that allows the members to stay anonymous while transacting.
It’s mainly known for its anonymization, In the world of Darkweb, there are numerous marketplaces that are being live for any individuals to use. There are many popular marketplaces. The list is endless you can find the list of active markets online.
Individuals can share their social and political beliefs and their disagreements with, or expectations of, their governments without any fear. This sharing is especially necessary for countries with strong state censorship and surveillance against political activists, freedom fighters. Journalists, activists, and whistle-blowers in these countries could use the Darknet to communicate with the outside world, encourage social change, and political reform, without disclosing their identities. Check out the blog by Tor Project on ‘Who uses TOR?’
Besides, the selling of drugs, pornography, and weapon — these online anonymous marketplaces are the main source of selling stolen or leaked information that includes financial statements, credit card details, cloned pins, and sensitive information of the organization, User Personal Information, and much more…
Along the side, these anonymous marketplaces are one of the main sources for cybercriminals. One of the most famous Darknet markets — the Silk Road. Due to its high profile, law enforcement agencies soon started to take down the Silk Road. After the original Silk Road was shut down in October 2013, the 2nd version — Silk Road 2.0 — came online under different managements. Later, a 3rd version — Silk Road Reloaded — was created after the closure of Silk Road 2.0. Silk Road was one of the successful black marketplaces that could earn over US$1.2 billion through this digital currency.
Soon, other markets including ‘Black Market Reloaded’ and ‘Sheep Marketplace’ — with websites, forums, or even discovery services — emerged to take Silk Road’s place
If you want to explore the history of Silk Road, then I urge you to check out this Documentary:
Brighter side of the Marketplaces
As I mentioned earlier the dark-net markets are not only used for the bad things they can also benefit in terms of business, maintaining National Secrets, and many other things. Dark web intelligence plays a prominent role as many unindexed websites also have a lot of valuable information that helps the vendors to take the necessary steps. Dark web intelligence also uses dark web forum portals in order to make counter-terrorism and cyber risk analysis activities. Besides, dark web intelligence is also involved in many legal activities like military intelligence, and as a medium to exchange other confidential information.
analyzing cyber risk and preventing cyber-attacks in anonymous and hidden areas of the internet. This prevents cyber criminals’ reign. Besides, dark web intelligence also plays a crucial role in preventing terrorist attacks and tracking them. Increasing use of mobile phones and portability of website use in various industries led to the generation of ample amount of data. Securing this data is of vital importance, and data breaches can be prevented using dark web intelligence as it helps to gather reliable intel about threats.
Dark web intelligence provides critical insights in order to fight and sustain cyber-attacks. As per the reports, The global Dark Web Intelligence Market size is projected to surpass the $840 million mark by 2026.
Why Dark Web and Deep Remains to be Secrets?
The Internet is now part of everyday life and plays a significant role in communication, online shopping, online banking, etc. However, one of the current issues with using the Internet is a lack of security since it is still possible for an eavesdropper to be able to intercept transferred data. As a result, the number of incidents has increased, posing a real threat to the user while people have become more conscious about how applications treat their personal data. Therefore, some users have shifted to using The Onion Router (Tor) as it claims to preserve users’ anonymity and privacy.
We heard the news that people get caught for doing cybercrimes through the dark web but still, the people behind the crime remain anonymous! How can it be possible? Do you know? It is because of the superior security techniques, anonymization, and the technologies they possess.
Let us have a look at it.
- Cryptocurrency
Even if you buy something from deepweb marketplaces, you can’t make the payment via regular methods like Paypal, Payoneer, DD, Cheque or direct deposit. All these methods lead to revealing their identity. So the best way is cryptocurrency or bitcoins.
That’s how they make transactions. For the same reasons, all of their identities remain anonymous.
- Lack of true knowledge
For new comers, a lot of people consider the Deep/Dark web to be “illegal”. Is it?! Even accessing dark web isn’t illegal. As long as you do not buy/sell illegal products on these dark web sites, it’s not illegal simply to visit them.
However, people often consider the entire deep/dark web to be illegal and threaten to even talk about it.
- Lack of public acceptance
People do not accept using the Dark web. Suppose you purchased guns or drugs on the dark web. Would you like to announce that on forums or your social media? You won’t. That’s the primary reason why the dark web remains invisible. Those who actually use it, never publicize their use. Rather, they’ll deny that any such site exists.
- Misinformation
A lot of websites and articles portray the Dark web as an elite network, only accessible to the most tech-savvy hackers. Hence, most people refrain from digging deeper. That’s the farthest from the truth. All you need is a TOR browser.
TOR too is considered “complex” by many. It’s not. It’s just a web-browser, an exact replica of Mozilla Firefox as far as looks go. And it’s 100% legal.
Is it possible to shut down Darknet Markets?
The Dark Web has proven a very useful and reliable tool in the hands of individuals wishing to be involved in illegal, criminal, or terrorist activities, child trafficking, pornography setting sights on getting great economic or political benefits without being identified by government authorities, and security agencies worldwide.
To this end, law & enforcement agencies need to become more agile when dealing with criminality on the Dark Web, and in particular on its Hidden Service Markets, and need to spend on new training and technologies.
Tor and Darknet markets are also used by banks, diplomatic officials, members of law enforcement, bloggers, and many others. Attempts to disable the Tor network would interfere with all of these users, not just ones disliked by the attacker.
Every person has the right to privacy. This right is a foundation of a democratic society. For example, if Members of any Parliament cannot share ideas and opinions free of government spying, then they cannot remain independent from other branches of government. If journalists are unable to keep their sources confidential, then the ability of the press to check the power of the government is compromised. If human rights workers can’t report evidence of possible crimes against humanity, it is impossible for other bodies to examine this evidence and to react. In the service of justice, we believe that the answer is to open up communication lines for everyone, securely and anonymously.
The Tor network provides online anonymity and privacy that allow freedom for everyone. Like freedom of speech, online privacy is a right for all.
Interesting Facts About Dark Web
- The dark web is a huge marketplace for cybercriminals and as per researches, they generate at least $500,000 per day.
- As per a study done by the University of California, that the Deep Web holds approximately 7.5 petabytes of data. (1 petabyte is 1000 terabytes)
- ISIS has been using the dark web as propaganda, recruiting, and fundraising tool.
- Intelligence agencies have been using software like XKeyscore to know the identity of TOR users.
- Besides all the illicit stuff there is a book fan club. The founder of Silk Road also started a book bazaar on it. The book fan club usually has conspiracy theory books and banned books and it also contains nearly 550 billion individual documents.
- There is a network called ‘Strategic Intelligence Network’ with tons of information about how to survive any crisis.
- People hired hackers to break into University systems and change grades, Over 30,000 websites were hacked every day and all types of match-fixing and illegal betting take place over Dark Web.
- There is no doubt that the dark web is full of scams.
Conclusion
I provide you with some of the security precautions and urge you guys to follow them before visiting any Darknet marketplaces
Darkweb is a center part of these types of illegal activities and due to this anonymization features of the dark web cybercriminal can host an escalating number of malicious services and activities, and new major marketplaces will inevitably arise. To head up these dark crimes security professionals and LEA must keep eyes on the activities and try to develop more advanced monitoring and detecting tools to cope up in the nearer future.
As a new customer or dark market user, there are high chances you’re likely to get scammed. Therefore, research any Darknet markets with Tor, being careful to visit forums and check updated information to see if any sites have been flagged as suspicious or compromised.
- Always use PGP to communicate.
- Never store crypto-currency at any such marketplace
There are also chances that if you orders something and its never got delivered so don't act like child as its not like that you place and cancelled the order on regular e-commerce markets so be careful and act vigilant:)
if you want to venture out there go & explore that world,
…but…
JUST TAKE CARE!
Hey Guys! Thanks for the positive responses to my previous Dark-web Articles. I hope you learn and enjoy the interesting facts. Please drop a comments, All suggestions are welcome :)
Thanks for reading… 😊
