No one is safe: a former cybercriminal told how the darknet works

Several networks provide access to the dark web, including i2p, FreeNet, and To. The dark web is a place where activity cannot be traced. According to the latest report, the most expensive content is child pornography, followed by weapons and drugs. A cybercriminal with 30 years of experience told what really happens on the dark web, where hackers, killers and drug dealers act as they please. In particular, he said that any system connected to the Internet is at risk of attack. The publication shared the details TSN.

Photo: IStock

“I saw how hospitals were encrypted, and people were faced with a choice: pay for data decryption or risk their lives,” the man said, hiding his face behind a mask.

Although the hacker is not engaged in illegal activities, he is dealing with “significant consequences (ransom demand) that could tangibly affect financial markets or have potential consequences for things like electric power plants.”

Philip Ingram, a former military intelligence colonel in the UK, said last year: “The darknet is increasingly being used by serious and organized criminals for various purposes. They are looking for vulnerabilities in children when they are going to involve them, for example, in the delivery of drugs, exploitation in pedophile circles or recruitment into terrorist and extremist groups.”

Several networks provide access to the darknet, including i2p, FreeNet and Tor.

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Tor

Tor is short for The Onion Router. It is a dense matrix of encrypted websites that allows users to browse the sites in complete anonymity. It uses numerous layers of security and encryption to keep users anonymous.

According to the study, there are about 2,6 million Tor users daily.

“The same study found that from one data collection, approximately 80% of traffic to major services was directed to services providing illegal pornography, graphic violence or child sexual abuse material,” experts from the Australian National University noted.

The interview with the hacker was conducted by Vice in 2021, but the video has resurfaced as a reminder that there is a dark world of people whose only job is to cause havoc with the help of the internet.

The man began his hacking career as a "black hat" - a type of cybercriminal who does not follow laws and carries out attacks for his own purposes.

He subsequently switched to the white side, becoming a "white hat" where he uses his skills with good intentions. It tracks criminals on the Internet and looks for vulnerabilities in systems in order to fix them, rather than use them to their own advantage.

“If I wanted access to a secure company, I wouldn’t go and break down the door,” he said.

First attack

The first ransomvir (ransomware) attack was written by Joseph Popp in 1989 and was used to attack the healthcare sector.

The attack, called the AIDS Trojan, was carried out by Popp, who distributed 20 infected disks to participants at a World Health Organization conference on AIDS. The disks were labeled “AIDS Information—Introductory Diskettes.”

When the floppy disk was loaded into the computer, a large picture appeared on the screen, on which it was written that the software "adversely affects other software applications." You will be required to pay damages to PC Cyborg Corporation and your computer will stop working properly.

The program counted the number of times the computer was started, and if the number reached 90, it would hide folders and encrypt or lock filenames on the C drive. To gain access again, users had to send $189 to PC Cyborg Corporation in Panama.

Since the decryption code was developed, hackers do not need to leave their homes - everything can be done on the dark web.

“Once upon a time, to hack a country as large as the United States, millions of dollars of investment were needed,” the masked man admitted.

Every western country turned to the darknet

Kevin Mitnick is considered "the most famous hacker in the world" because of his attack on 40 major companies, including IBM, Nokia and Motorola. The man stole computer codes, the value of which is estimated at almost $ 330 million, for which he spent five years in prison.

After being fired in 2000, Mitnick said he had "reformed" and now worked as a "white hat" - an ethical security hacker. The man who spoke with Vice also said he was doing this work.

“I once considered myself a black hat, but I became a white hat,” he said.

The moral security hacker claims that every Western country has turned to the dark web for help.

The white hat hacker also mentioned the initial access market, where criminals can buy access to corporate networks.

At an average price of around $2, so-called Initial Access Brokers (IABs) sold stolen VPN and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) account information and other credentials that criminals could use to break into the networks of more than 800 organizations around the world. the world.

Since the release of the Vice video, the initial access market has become widespread.

Cybersecurity researchers reported 2 cases of access to corporate networks being sold through the IAB during the second half of 348 and the first half of 2021. The number of brokers also increased - from 2022 to 262.

During the reporting period, ransomware published sensitive information from 2886 companies on ransomware data breach websites, representing a 22% increase from the previous year.

Hacker Cyber ​​Bazaar

The FBI does not stay away from illegal activities, but has problems with the elimination of large players.

“We're trying to attack not just the supply side, but the demand side,” said a senior FBI official during an operation to take down Genesis Market, a major online criminal marketplace.

If you are going to use these types of sites to engage in such activities, then there will be consequences. International law enforcement, led by the FBI, uncovered a dark web marketplace popular with cybercriminals where stolen passwords were sold for $1 each.

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A cyber hacker bazaar known as Genesis Market was exposed as part of an international operation called "Operation Cookie Monster", as the site specialized in stealing digital "fingerprints" known as cookies.

According to the FBI, Genesis Market offered access to data stolen from more than 1,5 million computers worldwide, containing over 80 million accounts.

The stolen data contained passwords to services such as online banking, Facebook, Amazon, PayPal, and Netflix, as well as digital fingerprints that criminals could use to spoof online security checks by spoofing the victim's device.

In a coordinated search around the world, more than 200 searches were carried out and about 120 people were detained, including 24 in the British city of Grimsby, UK law enforcement officials said.

A senior FBI official noted that the suspects were also detained in the United States in connection with an extensive investigation, but did not provide details on the number of detainees and the nature of the charges.

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