DarkMarket: The Hidden World of Online Illicit Commerce

The internet has revolutionized the way we live, work, and communicate. However, it has also created a new avenue for criminal activities. One such activity is the operation of dark markets, online marketplaces that facilitate the sale of illegal goods and services. These markets, also known as “DarkNet markets” or simply “acess dark webs,” operate on the dark web, a part of the internet that is intentionally hidden and inaccessible through regular web browsers.

The trial of three Germans, three Dutchmen, and a Bulgarian arrested back in September 2019 for allegedly starting illegal online activities in the area could have brought how to make a darknet market‘s operational information to light. The forum, known as DarkMarket, was the internet’s largest bazaar for illicit goods, the European police agency Europol said, with more than 2,400 vendors and 320,000 transactions completed. Police said they apprehended a single suspect, a 34-year-old Australian man accused of operating the site, near the German-Danish border.

After DarkMarket’s seizure in January 2021, reporting suggested the marketplace had 2,400 active vendors and had facilitated over 320,000 transactions. Conservative estimates calculated that around USD 170 million had changed hands on the site throughout its tenure. The recent alleged seizure of the carding AVC Joker’s Stash’s Blockchain DNS domains didn’t generate as much discussion as we might have expected. And, a few weeks on from the takedown of the “largest darknet marketplace”, DarkMarket, the ripples in the cybercriminal underground are barely discernible. Taking this as our starting point, in this blog we’ll dive into the cybercriminal community’s reaction to the recent seizure of DarkMarket and ask why this news has not had the impact some might have expected.

Why Was DarkMarket’s Fall Not A Massive Shock?

What is DarkMarket?

DarkMarket is a term used to describe an online marketplace that operates on the dark web. These markets are designed to provide anonymity and security to both buyers and sellers, making it easier for them to engage in illegal activities. DarkMarkets typically sell a wide range of illegal goods and services, including drugs, weapons, stolen data, and hacking tools. Some DarkMarkets also offer services such as money laundering and hitmen for hire.

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How Does DarkMarket Work?

• DDoS activity between cybercriminals is not uncommon, but the fact that DarkMarket was already being targeted and struggling to remain online before its seizure may have dulled the impact of the takedown as the community was used to it being offline for long periods.
• Since 2017, the ICCC has received over three million complaints totaling some $28 billion in losses.
• The investigation, which was led by the cybercrime unit of the Koblenz Public Prosecutor’s Office, allowed officers to locate and close the marketplace, switch off the servers, and seize the criminal infrastructure, Europol said.
• Police in the northern city of Oldenburg “were able to arrest the alleged operator of the suspected world’s largest illegal marketplace on the market, the DarkMarket, at the weekend, ” prosecutors said in a statement.

Because of the range of goods and services found for sale and the conversations that occur around these sales, dark web marketplaces can be precious sources of data on criminal activity. As such, they are normally under intense scrutiny from law enforcement and security professionals alike. THE HAGUE, Jan 12 (Reuters) – An online marketplace called “DarkMarket” that sold illegal drugs has been taken down in an operation led by German law enforcement agencies, European police agency Europol said on Tuesday.

DarkMarkets operate using a combination of encryption, anonymity networks, and cryptocurrencies. Transactions are typically conducted using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, which provide an additional layer of anonymity. Buyers and sellers communicate through encrypted messaging systems, making it difficult for law enforcement agencies to track their activities. DarkMarkets also use a reputation-based system, where buyers and sellers rate each other based on their experiences, to establish trust and ensure the quality of goods and services.

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The Risks of DarkMarket

This operation to seize the AlphaBay site coincides with efforts by Dutch law enforcement to investigate and take down the Hansa Market, another prominent dark web market. Like AlphaBay, Hansa Market was used to facilitate the sale of illegal drugs, toxic chemicals, malware, counterfeit identification documents, and illegal services. The administrators of Hansa Market, along with its thousands of vendors and users, also attempted to mask their identities to avoid prosecution through the use of Tor and digital currency. Further information on the operation against the Hansa Market can be obtained from Dutch authorities. DarkMarket, which had nearly 500,000 users and more than 2,400 vendors, allowed anyone with a Tor browser and some cryptocurrency to buy and sell drugs, forged money, forged or stolen credit cards, anonymous SIM cards and malware. The site had processed more than 320,000 transactions, with some $170 million USD worth of Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrencies having been exchanged.

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While DarkMarkets offer a level of anonymity and security that is not available on the regular internet, they also come with significant risks. Buyers and sellers on DarkMarkets are at risk of being scammed or arrested by law enforcement agencies. Additionally, the goods and services sold on DarkMarkets are often of poor quality or even dangerous. For example, drugs sold on DarkMarkets may be contaminated or mislabeled, and weapons may be defective or illegal.

The success of malware like Angel Drainer, reportedly used in the attack on Ledger, combined with continuing interest in cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and related digital assets, is expected to fuel the proliferation of such drainers. This trend reflects the lucrative nature of targeting digital financial assets, making crypto assets an attractive target for cybercriminals. As interest in, and usage of, these assets are growing, so, too, will the sophistication and prevalence of malware designed to exploit them. The press release issued by German police indicates that the administrator was living in Europe, and that the servers were hosted in Ukraine and Moldova. This is a repeat of past markets, where the administrators and their servers were in locations they could easily be arrested and seized in. This is somewhat surprising, as we would have expected market administrators to learn from past police operations, and make sure that they would relocate to countries where their arrest would be more difficult.

Europol said the data seized would give law enforcement new leads to further investigate criminal activity on the forum. According to that investigation, dark web search engine — run on the dark web, a shady part of the internet that can host illicit activity — had almost a half-million users. It had 2,400 sellers working within the marketplace, and more than 320,000 transactions had taken place there. This amounted to about $171 million transferred via the cryptocurrencies bitcoin and Monero. Despite these recent dark web market problems that the cybercriminal community is experiencing, it’s unlikely that the marketplace model will go anywhere anytime soon. It may be the case that the golden era of the marketplace is over, and threat actors who are jaded by the news of yet another marketplace’s departure from the scene will continue to react in muted ways.

The Future of DarkMarket

DarkMarkets are a growing concern for law enforcement agencies around the world. However, their decentralized nature and use of encryption and anonymity networks make them difficult to shut down. As a result, DarkMarkets are likely to continue to operate and evolve in the future. It is essential for law enforcement agencies to develop new strategies and tools to combat DarkMarkets and protect consumers from the risks associated with them.

Conclusion

DarkMarket is a hidden world of online illicit commerce that operates on the dark web. While DarkMarkets offer a level of anonymity and security that is not available on the regular internet, they also come with significant risks. Buyers and sellers on DarkMarkets are at risk of being scammed or arrested by law enforcement agencies, and the goods and services sold on DarkMarkets are often of poor quality or even dangerous. As DarkMarkets continue to evolve and grow, it is essential for law enforcement agencies to develop new strategies and tools to combat them and protect consumers from the risks associated with them.