It’s estimated that over half of the 2.5 million daily Dark Web visitors in 2023 have participated in illegal activities. Even more so alarming is that this number is on the rise, as of April 2023 this figure rose 200,000 to 2.7 million daily Dark web users.
Whilst the dark web only comprises an estimated 5% of the entire internet, the volume of illegal activities that can and are executed with its use is alarming.
Whilst its intended purpose is to allow people access to a censorship-free internet where they cannot be tracked by governments or any other parties, the BanklessTimes.com revealed that in fact 56.8% of Dark Web activities are illegal in some way.
Further data uncovered that those most familiar with the dark web are those from BRICS countries – amounting to 28% of those who cited being familiar with the dark web.
Latin America and the Asia Pacific region were next with 26% of respondents claiming some familiarity with the darknet. The Middle East and Africa stood at 23%, while the global average was 24%.
Dark web activities vary, but most are of illicit intent
There are variety of functions on the darknet and some individuals do use it for more lawful reasons such as citizens in different countries looking to access uncensored information, or help researchers find the right data.
However, cybercrime forums, illegal marketplaces, extremist platforms, and illegal violent content make up more than half of the content.
The dark web market is listed with various illicit goods and services. The most listed items on the market are paypal account log ins – with 50 accounts costing just $200 in 2022.
Another prevalent product on offer are hacked crypto accounts which are becoming more affordable. The price for a Kraken verified account dropped from $810 in 2021 to only $250 in 2022 and similarly, the numbers for Coinbase decreased from $610 to $120.
The explanation for this price change is the growing supply of the criminally sourced goods. A pricier service available for dark net users are malware and DDOS attacks. Direct “high-quality”
Malware attacks against someone in Europe cost $1,800 per 1,000 installs, whilst in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia “medium-quality” attacks with a 70% success rate, cost $1,200 per 1,000 installs.
Attempts to police the dark web have shown promising results
Efforts to police the dark web have resulted asset seizures of staggering values. The US government once seized a crypto wallet with almost $1 billion in Bitcoin from Silk Road funds – the largest darknet marketplace.
In 2022, another major player in the darknet marketplace, Hydra, fell in a US government crackdown with a value of $25 million in bitcoin seized.
Looking forward, efforts to police the dark web should be continued and persistently so due to dark net marketplaces growing in both demand and supply.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has emerged as the most targeted brand by cybercriminals for the second consecutive year according to a report released by cybersecurity firm, CyberShield.
