There are places online, known as “darknet” networks, that shield worldwide criminal ventures, scammers, thieves and killers from public scrutiny. These networks also host communications from individuals and groups living under oppressive regimes who require an untraceable means to get their messages across. Darknets are like a well-cloaked parallel universe to the Internet, but one in which ordinary users are wise not to poke around.
Darknets are unreachable by conventional search engines; neither Google nor Bing can get you there. Those who use (and maintain sites) remain anonymous courtesy of massive encryption and web currencies like Bitcoin. As I said before, most things illegal can be found there, which also serves as a staging area and outlet for whistle-blowers, dissidents (especially in free speech oppressive regimes like Iran) and political movements. It’s the online equivalent of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
That doesn’t mean most of this activity champions free speech. At best, it’s black and murky, with illicit sales of weapons, drugs and information (like trafficking in the sale of stolen credit card numbers and passwords) freely available and frequently passed from hand to hand, all without the ability to backtrack the players. But darknets aren’t invulnerable: about two years ago, a coalition of international government agencies took down hundreds of these operations and put some of the people involved with various black market operations down for the count. Like so many criminal enterprises, as fast as we take one down, another rushes in to fill the void.
For many, the idea that the most police can do is put a fraction of these people away or knock the operation offline seems pretty futile. No matter how hard agencies and coalitions work, there are always going to be others out there ready to exploit the void illicit operations leave when busted. It’s a lot like water when you fill a bucket from a lake: while that one bucket won’t empty an entire body of water or even register much of an impact, it’s a gradual process. As law enforcement IT tools grow increasingly sophisticated, darknets will become less and less safe for criminals to use to conduct their commerce, as long as police stay a step ahead of the game.
How does it work? As someone with a limited technological skillset, I can’t begin to explain the mechanics. I do know it relies on technologies such as the Onion Router (also known as TOR), which renders what takes place on a darknet both anonymous and untraceable. The concept, as it has been explained to me, is to route each connection through a series of nodes (devices, connection points, etc.) to mask the identity of the users at both ends of the transaction. Since Bitcoin is the preferred currency, remuneration isn’t traceable through bank accounts or wire transfers, making it the perfect vehicle for illicit international deals.
Darknets aren’t new—hackers, SIGINT personnel and a lot of teenagers are familiar. But the technology used to sustain it, as well as that developed by law enforcement to penetrate it, grows more complicated each day and the cybercrime it yields adds yet another layer to modern policing that our predecessors could never have imagined. It also strains already scarce police resources.
Many issues face cybercrime-fighters. An IHS Jane’s Intelligence Review piece says an “exclusively interdiction-based approach” not only limits the ability of police to combat cybercrime, but also guarantees a future run-in with privacy advocates. Increased sophistication on the parts of cybercriminals make legal enforcement on darknet the Mt. Everest of criminal activity. And everyone agrees, it’s going to take a lot of dedication for us to summit this mountain.
