![]() Nearly all dark web commerce sites conduct transactions in bitcoin or some variant, but that doesn't mean it's safe to do business there. "Bitcoin has been a major factor in the growth of the dark web, and the dark web has been a big factor in the growth of bitcoin," says Tiquet. The dark web has flourished thanks to bitcoin, the crypto-currency that enables two parties to conduct a trusted transaction without knowing each other's identity. As a result, "The quality of search varies widely, and a lot of material is outdated." For sale on the dark web "Sites are constantly changing addresses to avoid DDoS, which makes for a very dynamic environment," he said. The anonymous nature of the Tor network also makes it especially vulnerable to DDoS, said Patrick Tiquet, Director of Security & Architecture at Keeper Security, and the company's resident expert on the topic. But many merchants simply migrated elsewhere. In the summer of 2017, a team of cyber cops from three countries successfully shut down AlphaBay, the dark web's largest source of contraband, sending shudders throughout the network. Law enforcement officials are getting better at finding and prosecuting owners of sites that sell illicit goods and services. Even commerce sites that may have existed for a year or more can suddenly disappear if the owners decide to cash in and flee with the escrow money they're holding on behalf of customers. Many dark websites are set up by scammers, who constantly move around to avoid the wrath of their victims. For example, a popular commerce site called Dream Market goes by the unintelligible address of "eajwlvm3z2lcca76.onion." These attacks often include stealing victims’ data and threatening to release it on the dark web if the ransom isn’t paid.ĭark web websites also use a scrambled naming structure that creates URLs that are often impossible to remember. The affiliates distribute the ransomware packages through the dark web. These groups develop their own sophisticated malware, sometimes combined with pre-existing tools, and distribute them through “affiliates”. Ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) kits have been available on the dark web for several years, but those offerings have become far more dangerous with the rise of specialized criminal groups like REvil or GandCrab.
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