

Feeling protected by a safety net of “anonymity,” many users leave their personal information exposed here. For law enforcement investigators, this is precisely the reason for performing dark web operations. With so many criminal activities rampant on the dark web, users might wonder why they would want to explore it. For example, a journalist might use this portion of the internet to correspond with a source who wishes to obscure their identity. While not all dark web activities maintain a nefarious goal, crimes on this anonymized section of the internet have rapidly increased and will continue to grow. Some users believe the dark web provides a means for private communications. The dark web is also used in other ways, such as hiding from cyber attacks. Personal identifiers, like social security numbers.Nefarious services and goods sold in these markets include: Tor hosts certain sites called Hidden Services. As suggested by their name, Hidden Services use hidden IP addresses, obscuring the sites’ content, hosts, and users. These sites offer a layer of anonymity and security from prying eyes, which is why they have frequently become home to online criminals. Dark web markets allow these criminals to pursue their activities seemingly without intervention from law enforcement. Items for purchase can include anything from opioids to access to an individual’s social security information. Instead, they exist on a network called Tor. Tor, often named the “onion router,” reroutes users’ traffic, ensuring all activities won’t be discovered by the typical internet lurker. The dark web refers to the parts of the internet that do not exist on typical browsers and sites.
