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IPFS News Link • Internet

The Booming, and Opaque, Business of Dark Web Monitoring

• http://motherboard.vice.com

Two groups of people make money from the so-called dark web: Criminals who use it to peddle illegal goods, and the companies who offer to track them on behalf of law enforcement and private clients.

Both are now established trades, with the latter growing at an accelerating rate. A handful of dark web monitoring companies exist, some being created specifically to tackle the dark web, and others expanding their services to tackle sites on the Tor network. Last month, one such company, Terbium Labs, scooped $6.3 million, and in January iSight Partners was acquired for $200 million.

But fundamental problems with the very idea of some of these services, such as the issue of verifying information gleaned from forums and marketplaces, means they might be providing an illusion of security, rather than the real thing.

In particular, financial institutions, retailers or e-commerce sites might hire these companies in order to get a head-start on any potential fraud from the sale of stolen data.

"You can use the monitoring of the black market as an early warning system: if you start to see people talk about you, if you start to see data pop up about you, you can see that you're being a target," Adam Meyer, chief security strategist at SurfWatch Labs, told Motherboard in a phone call. SurfWatch offers a "cyber threat intelligence program by providing you with personalized cyber risk intelligence from Dark Web and other related sources," with clients paying anything up to $150,000 per year.

"We're monitoring every day, so if something pops on the black market that is one of our customers, we notify them that day," Meyer continued. With pinched credit card information, banks and credit card companies "get an early jump on it before the transactions start coming behind it, and they can reduce the loss."

27 Comments in Response to

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".

Comment by Bob Podolsky
Entered on:

Those who "peddle illegal goods" are not "criminals". Law dictionaries define "crimes" as actions that have victims. In the absence of victims, there are no crimes...and hence no criminals. The "laws" prohibiting ownership (of anything) exist solely to allow one group of people to impose their values on another (much bigger) group. This phenomenon is known properly as "tyranny".