In my last blog, I talked a little about the general principles of the cyberattack marketplace.  Today, we will take a closer look at the Darknet. There is so much talk these days about the Darknet. It’s the stuff of crime novels – a hotbed of criminal activity where anything can be bought and sold.
While that is true, the Darknet also provides an anonymizing layer to journalists and activists around the world who fight for the freedom of information and privacy. It is often a place where they can securely and anonymously communicate with their contacts.

But first, what exactly is the Darknet?

  • Darknet – A Darknet is an overlay network that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization, often using non-standard communications protocols and ports.
  • Dark web – The Dark web is content that exists on Darknet, overlay networks which use the public Internet but which require specific software, configurations or authorization to access.
  • Deep web – The Deep web is parts of the World Wide Web whose contents are not indexed by standard search engines for any reason.
  • Clearnet – The Clearnet is a term typically referring to the unencrypted, or non-darknet. This traditional world wide web has relatively low-base anonymity, with most websites routinely identifying users by their IP address.
To be clear, the Darknet is a dangerous place where illicit or underground activities are conducted and can be found if you look for them. One of the most predominant features found on the Darknet are the digital marketplaces where different types of goods and digital items are bought and sold mainly for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Today we see a number of growing marketplaces found on both the Clearnet and the Darknet. These sites sell almost anything you can think of and are often a one stop shop for would be criminals.

Items found in the marketplace include:

  • Software/Malware
  • Security/Hosting
  • Counterfeit
  • Drugs
  • Guns