Network Of Hidden Websites Called ‘Darknet’ Is Being Used As A Conduit For Illegal Drug And Firearms Trade
The fast-paced digital aged has enabled people to shop, watch movies and play games online. However, this very same technology that has made life easier for many has also become a venue for organized crimes. Reports revealed that a network of hidden of websites, called 'Darknet', has become a conduit for illegal activities such as drugs and firearms trade.
Through a special software called The Onion Route, otherwise known as "Tor," traders and buyers can secretly conduct business involving illegal products. Tor enables anonymous access to Darknet, which holds as many as 200,000 to 400,000 sites, Boston Commons wrote.
Tracking down the perpetrators behind these illegal websites is a difficult task for authorities because aside from their vast number, the operators of this websites regularly change. These sites also utilize fake IP addresses scattered around the globe, and the users mimic the formatting of e-mail addresses to known domains like big commercial companies. The people involved in this network of businesses maintain their anonymity as a top priority above anything else.
The Darknet is the notorious black market of the internet which operates beyond the law. Every imaginable illegal product and services is available there such as drugs, child pornography, stolen credit card numbers, fake identification, pirated entertainment and hit men.
Korea Times named High Korea as one of the many drug community sites in the deep web, which is referred to as Hidden Wiki. This drug movement has nearly 3,000 members who are buying and selling illegal drugs. The group also provides reference materials such as manuals on how to grow cannabis, how to evade authorities and the process of marijuana deals.
Just like business exchanges in trading sites like e-bay, people do not usually meet in person when they make transactions in Darknet. They instead use bitcoin for payment which is a currency widely used in the internet.
Despite the security and anonimity enjoyed by Darknet users, authorities have made developments in bringing it down. In 2014, a large raid was conducted on some of the biggest Darknet sites such as Silk Road 2.0. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 16 nations worked together under the Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and Eurojust to effectuate the raid.
"In coordination with domestic and international law enforcement agencies, we will continue to seize websites that promote illegal and harmful activities, and prosecute those who create and operate them," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
Deep web surveillance programs have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency on the lookout for illegal trades in the internet. However, Darknet activities are still rampant due to the distant physicality of offenders and their anonymity.
