Dark Web —
Setting aside its public image, the Dark Web is actually just a subset of the Deep Web. Comprising a string of unindexed sites, it can be explored in a similar fashion to the Surface Web – except specialized browsers are required. One such example is TOR (The Onion Router), through which users can navigate from site to site without ever surfacing onto the Visible Web.
The Dark Web is navigated through specialized browsers—the most popular being TOR (The Onion Router)—that afford users a high degree of cloaking, or “virtual traffic tunnels”. This makes user activity extremely difficult to track, which, in turn, draws illicit dealings. Studies show that 62% of people who use TOR, do so to utilize its anonymity features.
While this ill-famed domain only accounts for a fraction of the entire web—no more than 6%—it should be remembered that the Surface Web only makes up 10%, so the Dark Web can hardly be called small. And it’s growing fast, showing a threefold expansion since 2017, with the worldwide usership reaching 2M in 2022.
Of all the illicit activity that is fostered by the Dark Web, by far the most abundant concerns the buying and selling of illegal goods and services. With the advent of Bitcoin in 2009, darknet marketplaces exploded. A cryptographically obscured platform combined with an anonymous digital payment system drew both vendors and customers in their droves. In 2020, revenue from darknet markets hit an all-time high of $1.7B.
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Featured terms
Blockchains —
In a nutshell, a blockchain is a shared, or distributed, ledger recording transactions and assets. The data is compiled through a continuous verification process that links all transactions into a large, decentralized "chain" of participants, who are linked across a network of peer-to-peer computers...
Data Breach —
Data breaches are the exposure of sensitive or classified information to unauthorized parties and can have disastrous consequences for an organization. When a breach occurs, a company often has to pay out huge sums of money to contain the leak and may also suffer costly reputational damage...
Link Analysis —
The process of link analysis involves examining data to uncover relationships or connections that might not be apparent in raw data sets. It is a powerful analytical tool that has a wide range of applications in various sectors, from law enforcement and national security to cyber and...
Operations Security (OPSEC) —
Operations Security, or OPSEC, involves identifying and consolidating critical information to gain a better understanding of a situation. Additionally, it refers to safeguarding data and ensuring a given mission against eavesdropping by unauthorized parties or accidental compromise...
Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT) —
A close cousin of OSINT, SOCMINT is an acronym meaning ‘social media intelligence.’ SOCMINT is the collection and analysis of data from social media platforms. Such information might be used for various purposes, including digital footprinting, link analysis, etc.
Social Media Piggybacking (Piggyback Marketing) —
When a company’s social media post goes viral, it is only a matter of time before millions of people start talking about it. Seeing an opportunity to leverage the post's popularity, companies can join in to redirect some of the traffic toward their services...
Our OSINT Solutions
Un conjunto de métodos de extracción y análisis de datos que abarcan redes sociales, blockchain, messangers y la Dark Web, conectados directamente a tu plataforma interna a través de nuestra Open Data API.
Una herramienta OSINT para llevar a cabo investigaciones exhaustivas en redes sociales, blockchain, messangers y la Dark Web con las plataformas Maltego e i2.