Diving into the world of the Dark Web (part of the ‘Deep Web’) is not an easy experience. This area of the Internet is far larger than the area dedicated to more legitimate forms of entertainment and commerce. A glimpse of the Dark Web has been provided to Digital Journal by Business 2 Community researchers.
The inquiry reveals the dangerous side of the Internet’s underbelly. This side is increasingly active, given that did you know that dark web usage has surged over 300 percent since 2017. With the COVID-19 pandemic driving more people online, criminals, seeking to take advantage of the anonymity offered by the Dark Web, appear to have to expanded their operations.
As an example of the illicit activity, over 25 million passwords belonging to Fortune 1000 employees have been found on the Dark Web, with this content posing a massive security threat to both the companies and their customers.
Other data shows that 24 billion username and password combinations are available for sale on Dark Web sites. This appears to be a lucrative area of criminal engagement, not least because 90 percent of posts on dark web forums are from buyers looking to contract someone for cybercrime.
From hacking to phishing, the nefarious activities being facilitated there can cause significant harm to individuals and organizations. This seems to be economic lucrative and one estimate assesses that up to 5 percent of global GDP is laundered on the Dark Web.
The Dark Web is also a hotspot for money laundering, with an estimated 2-5 percent of global GDP being laundered on the Dark Web in one year alone. Firearms and illegal drugs are also popular items for sale, making up a significant portion of the Dark Web marketplace.
Even more disturbing is the area of physical violence. Here hitmen are available for hire on the Dark Web for as little as $20,000, and there are thousands of active terror groups with a presence on the Dark Web.
Another unpleasant area is with the existence of so-called torture Red Rooms, where users can pay to watch live streamed acts of violence or torture. The idea that people would even consider paying to watch someone being tortured is deeply disturbing.
Other activities include spaces for whistleblowers and democracy activists to discuss ideas away from government agencies or away from corporate entities, as forums for information exchange without fear of reprisal.
Whether this latter area represents a force for good depends upon what is being discussed and the motivations of those sharing information. This is an unanswerable debate, given few venture into the rivers of the Dark Web.
