Tor Market is now the longest-running English-language market for illegal drugs on the dark web. But its success and profile may contain the seeds of its own downfall.
Sophisticated fake social media personas created by North Korean hackers offered to collaborate with cybersecurity researchers. Several US researchers fell for it.
Black markets thrive online and flourish during pandemics and other crises.
Marko Klaric/EyeEm via Getty Images
The global pandemic has fueled illicit online sales of COVID-19 commodities, some of which are dangerous or illegal. Researchers are assessing the size and reach of this underground market.
These online spaces are more regulated than many media reports would have you believe. And the vast majority of dark web traders are steering clear of exploiting the pandemic.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron launched the Christchurch Call initiative in Paris in May 2019.
EPA/Yoan Valat
The US, Russia and China haven’t backed the NZ-led Christchurch Call to crackdown on online extremism. Without them, and key non-western media, the initiative is unlikely to make enough difference.
The illicit drug trade is thriving on the dark web because it’s seen as safer and more profitable than street dealing, according to encrypted interviews with people who sell drugs online.
Begun as part of efforts to preserve online anonymity and privacy, Freenet, Tor and the Invisible Internet Project are, like the rest of the web, home to both crime and free expression.
Brett Johnson tears up when he mentions the FBI special agent who helped him quit online fraud.