By: Carlton W. Reeves, Luis Felipe Restrepo, Laura E. Mate, Claire Murray, Claria Horn Boom, John Gleeson, Candice C. Wong, Patricia K. Cushwa, and Scott A.C. Meisler

The use of cyber technologies, such as cryptocurrency and the dark web, provides new and evolving means to commit crimes and avoid detection. These technologies are used to commit a variety of federal offenses. The dark web is sometimes used to create, hide, or access websites containing child pornography. Illegal drugs and firearms are sometimes sold through dark websites. Cryptocurrency is sometimes used to facilitate these crimes. [...] Regardless of the type of crime involved, the relative anonymity these technologies provide to their users creates challenges for the investigation and prosecution of the crimes committed with them. The use of cyber technology to commit crimes transcends national borders. As Interpol has found, this causes investigative and legal challenges that can be difficult to overcome. United States government agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, have reported on the increasing threats from these technologies and estimated yearly losses in the billions from the crimes committed with these technologies. There has been little analysis on the individuals sentenced for a federal offense who use these technologies for illegal purposes, the offenses they committed, and trends in these areas over time. In developing this report, the United States Sentencing Commission ('the Commission') collected information on individuals sentenced for offenses using cryptocurrency, the dark web, and hacking for fiscal years 2014 through 2021."

United States Sentencing Commission Sep. 2024

By Harjeev Kour Sudan, Andy Man Yeung Tai, Jane Kim, and Reinhard Michael Krausz

Introduction: The Dark Web is a subsection of the Internet only accessible through specific search engines, making it impossible to trace users. Due to extensive anonymity, the drug trade on the Dark Web makes regulation complicated. We sought to uncover the scope of the online drug trade on the Dark Web and the impact it may have on the dynamics of global drug trafficking.

Methods: We conducted a literature review to elucidate the availability and distribution of drugs on the Dark Web based on data reported in existing literature (n = 14) between September 2012 and June 2019. We simultaneously collected data about substances and listings from Dark Web cryptomarkets (n = 13) active between August 2022 and January 2023. Data from the literature review and the Dark Web scrape were combined to draw trends in the chronological availability and distribution of drugs between 2012 and 2023.

Results: The data collected from 13 cryptomarkets between late 2022 and early 2023 showed a relative change in substance distribution compared to 2012–2019, with a decrease in prescription drugs (from >20% to <5%) and a doubling of opioid listings (from 5.5% to 9.25%), while no major changes were observed on average during 2012–2019 according to literature.

Conclusions: The Dark Web warrants more attention in the analysis of the global drug trade. Understanding Dark Web drug markets can inform targeted interventions and strategies to reduce drug-related harms, while ongoing research is necessary to anticipate and respond to future changes in the landscape of the illicit drug trade.

Drug Science, Policy and Law Volume 9 January-December 2023

Javeriah Saleem, Rafiqul Islam and Muhammad Ashad Kabir   

The dark web is a section of the Internet that is not accessible to search engines and requires an anonymizing browser called Tor. Its hidden network and anonymity pave the way for illegal activities and help cybercriminals to execute well-planned, coordinated, and malicious cyberattacks. Cyber security experts agree that online criminal activities are increasing exponentially, and they are also becoming more rampant and intensified. These illegal cyber activities include various destructive crimes that may target a single person or a whole nation, for example, data breaches, ransomware attacks, black markets, mafias, and terrorist attacks. So, maintaining data privacy and secrecy is the new dilemma of the era. This paper has extensively reviewed various attacks and attack patterns commonly applied in the dark web. We have also classified these attacks in our unique trilogies classification system. Furthermore, a detailed overview of existing threat detection techniques and their limitations is discussed for anonymity providing services like Tor, I2P, and Freenet. Finally, the paper has identified significant weaknesses that make the dark web vulnerable to different attacks.

 IEEE Access, vol. 10, pp. 33628-33660, 2022

By Abhineet Gupta 

The internet can broadly be divided into three parts: surface, deep and dark among which the latter offers anonymity to its users and hosts. The dark web has become notorious in the media for being a hidden part of the web where all manner of illegal activities take place. The more restrictions placed upon the free exchange of information, goods and services between people the more likely there exist hidden spaces for it to take place. The ‘black market’ of the internet – the dark web - represents such a hidden space. This review looks at the purposes it is widely used for with an emphasis on cybercrime, and how the law enforcement plays the role of its adversary. The review describes these hidden spaces, sheds light on their history, the activities that they harbour – including cybercrime, the nature of attention they receive, and methodologies employed by law enforcement in an attempt to defeat their purpose. More importantly, it is argued that these spaces should be considered a phenomenon and not an isolated occurrence to be taken as merely a natural consequence of technology. The review is conducted by looking at existing literature in academic journal databases. It contributes to the area of the dark web by serving as a reference document and by proposing a research agenda.  

Melbourne: University of Melbourne, 2018.  46p.