Why Monitor Dark Web Marketplaces?
In its wake, many more darknet marketplaces emerged (including the Silk Road 2.0), with some (e.g. Evolution and Agora) surpassing the size of the original Silk Road. In addition, from early 2014, retailers began to increasingly operate across more than one marketplace, with 10% doing so by July 2014. In November 2014, an international law enforcement operation (dubbed ‘Operation Onymous’) seized the Silk Road 2.0 along with other darknet markets and the servers on which they operated.
2019 and 2020 marked some pretty impressive takedown operations, enough to think that it would lead to a reversal of the whole underground darknet marketplace trend and the way criminals do business over TOR. SpecTor began in late 2021, led by the Department of Justice’s Joint Criminal and Opioid Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team. JCODE was set up in 2018 to coordinate complex, multi-agency investigations into virtual marketplaces selling dangerous and illegal drugs around the globe.
Exploring Darknet Markets
Xennt did not come to the door, but one of his managers spoke to the officers and showed them to the server bank. Whatever the outcome of the CyberBunker trial, the operation against Xennt has provided police with an Aladdin’s cave of information on other criminal activity. In its raid on the bunker, German police seized four hundred and twelve hard drives, four hundred and three servers, sixty-five USB sticks, sixty-one computers, fifty-seven phones, reams of paper documents, and about a hundred thousand euros in cash. One of the German officers charged with analyzing the contents of the CyberBunker servers told me that the volume of data was unwieldy, but its content fascinating.
At its height, AlphaBay’s daily sales ranged between $600,000 and $800,000 USD across 300,000 listings for illicit goods, offered by over 40,000 vendors and viewed by some 200,000 users. While the study is based on historical data, we showed that examining dark market counterfeits in more detail can contribute to our understanding of the counterfeit market. With an increasing emergence of darknet markets and single vendor shops, offers of counterfeits are also likely to increase. Thus, examining current dark market data would be valuable in future analyses of IP crime, which would provide us with more up-to-date insights. Collecting data from dark markets to gather intelligence could be done manually and automatically and would probably be very cost-effective compared to (border) seizures. Once implemented, prolonged data collection could be easily maintained, providing us with regular details on counterfeits.
The term darknet markets refers to online platforms that facilitate the buying and selling of illegal goods and services, often using cryptocurrencies for transactions. Users typically access these markets through specific software, like Tor, which anonymizes their online activities.
Wall Street Market’s administrators tried to make off with $11 million in an exit scam before the site’s closure, investigators said. Based on the analyzed darknet market data, we can say that counterfeit goods are rare (2.99% of all products) on dark markets and are often included in miscellaneous categories. Thus, accurately measuring the prevalence of counterfeits across the dark web is difficult. However, we disentangled product categories using a classification model, allowing for a more in-depth analysis. We showed that some product types exhibit a strong prevalence discrepancy between dark markets and seized goods.
The reputation system consists of customer ratings, reviews of products or services purchased, number of visitors, and number of purchases. Furthermore, a good reputation or positive perception disseminated by word of mouth can be even more effective than the reputation system (Duxbury & Haynie, 2018; Przepiorka et al., 2017). According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, more than 60% of all trading on the darknet consists of illegal drug trafficking (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2021).
What Darknet Markets Are Up?
Now, 10 months later, thanks in part to a tumult of takedowns and the mysterious disappearances of competing dark web markets, DeSnake’s reincarnated AlphaBay is now well on its way to its former heights atop the digital underworld. Nonetheless, threat actors adapted, with many choosing to move to the “RuTor” forum for communications and to decentralized platforms such as Telegram-based shops for drug advertisements, as well as offline sales. Russian-speaking DNM customers were historically frequent users of RuTor, where they would exchange information. In fact, much of the Russian-language DNM ecosystem emerged from such forums. However, in the wake of Hydra’s takedown many Russian vendors set up independent vendor shops and automated Telegram shops employing Telegram shop bots, although this did not imply a wholesale move away from DNMs. Could you just list out these dark web marketplaces and ask your security team to keep an eye on them?
As of late 2023, several darknet markets have gained traction and visibility. Monitoring the status of these platforms can be crucial for buyers and sellers interested in the illegal trade. Here’s a closer look at some notable markets currently operational:
- What is more recent is the advent of secure and encrypted online (‘darknet’) marketplaces that are only accessible via anonymising software such as The Onion Router (TOR).
- CipherTrace followed such postings for a month and found no notable sales.
- Instead, the blockchain records, secures and authenticates these transactions.
- In addition, they found debit cards issued by a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, which he could use to withdraw fiat currency from ATMs in Sweden.
- Hydra Market: Known for its extensive range of drugs and counterfeit items.
- Black Market Reloaded: A long-standing player that offers a variety of illegal goods.
- White House Market: Focuses on direct seller-to-buyer interactions and features robust seller ratings.
- Empire Market: Offers a wide array of products, although it has faced intermittent downtimes.
In some instances, vendors listed the variations of the products in separate listings and later merged them into a single listing with the option of making the wanted changes (color, amount, etc.) or vice versa. In such cases, we can determine the average price of such a merged listing to get a more accurate representation of the product price. For listings with a holding and placeholder price, we searched for the same product from the same vendor to find a replacement price. Table 4 shows the distribution of found and replaced holding and placeholder prices.Footnote 8 Products with a high holding price for which we did not find replacements were excluded from further analyses of the value of the goods. “With Hydra and the evolution of money-laundering services as a feature of the darknet market ecosystem, a number of new financial motivations come into play,” Jardine says.
How To Access Darknet Markets
Accessing darknet markets requires certain precautions and tools:
- Download and install the Tor Browser to ensure anonymity.
- Utilize a reputable VPN service to add an extra layer of security.
- Engage with forums and communities to gather information on the latest market listings.
- Verify market links; many markets change URLs frequently.
Risks Associated with Darknet Markets
While exploring darknet markets, it is essential to understand the associated risks:
- Legal repercussions: Engaging in illegal activities can lead to serious legal consequences.
- Scams and fraud: Many users fall victim to fraudulent listings and sellers.
- Insecurity: Personal data can be at risk if adequate security measures are not taken.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are darknet markets safe to use?
Although there are methods to enhance security while accessing darknet markets, the inherent risks of engaging in illegal activities remain significant.
2. Can I access darknet markets without technical knowledge?
Basic technical skills are beneficial, but numerous resources are available to guide new users through the process.
3. What payment methods are used in darknet markets?
Most transactions are conducted using cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin or Monero, due to their anonymity.
Conclusion
Staying informed about which darknet markets are up is crucial for anyone involved in or studying the illegal online marketplace. As these platforms evolve, continuous learning and vigilance are necessary to navigate the complex and risky environment of the darknet.
