Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

Publisher:: Sage Publications, Inc.
Publication date:: 2021-09-06

ISBN:: 1043-9862

Issue Number

Latest documents

An Assessment of Cryptomixing Services in Online Illicit Markets
The internet has become a popular marketplace for the sale of illicit products, including stolen personal information, drugs, and firearms. Many of these products are acquired using cryptocurrencies, which are generally defined as forms of digital currency that is traceable through blockchain ledger technology. These currencies are thought to be more secure than other forms of digital payment, though law enforcement and financial service providers have found ways to investigate account holders and their transactions. Consequently, several service providers have begun to offer cryptomixing services, which effectively launders payments to circumvent detection and investigation tools. Few have explored the practices of cryptomixing services, or the ways in which they are marketed on the Open and Dark Web. This inductive qualitative analysis will examine a sample of 18 cryptomixing services advertised on both the Open and Dark Web to better understand cryptomixing and its role in facilitating illicit transactions across the internet.
A Depiction and Classification of the Stolen Data Market Ecosystem and Comprising Darknet Markets: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Scant research has investigated the illicit online ecosystem that enables the sale of stolen data. Even fewer studies have examined the longitudinal trends of the markets on which these data are bought and sold. To fill this gap in the literature, our research team identified 30 darknet markets advertising stolen data products from September 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021. We then developed python web scrapers to systematically extract information pertaining to stolen data products on a weekly basis. Using these data, we calculated the number of vendors, listings, sales, and revenue across the markets and at the aggregate, ecosystem level. Moreover, we developed a data-driven market classification system drawing from ecological principles and dominant firm theory. Findings indicate that markets vary in size and success. Although some markets generated over $91 million in revenue from stolen data products, the median revenue across markets during the observational period was only $95,509. Variability also exists across markets in respect to the number of vendors, listings, and sales. Only three markets were classified as financially successful and stable (i.e., dominant firms). We argue resources should be allocated to target markets fitting these criteria.
Follow the Money: Analyzing Darknet Activity Using Cryptocurrency and the Bitcoin Blockchain
Transactions on the darknet are notoriously difficult to examine. Prior criminological research has generally used web scraping and qualitative text analysis to examine illegal darknet markets. One disadvantage of this process is that individuals can lie. Fortunately for researchers, the currency used for transactions on the darknet, cryptocurrency, is designed to be tracked. In this article, we examine transactions from a former darknet marketplace, AlphaBay. Using the blockchain, we examine the interconnectedness of both legal and illegal cryptocurrencies. In addition, we provide a structured approach to quantitatively examine the Bitcoin blockchain ledger, offering both the tools and our own experiences for other researchers interested in such approaches. While cybersecurity, information technology, accounting, and other disciplines can examine the financial data itself, we believe that criminologists can provide additional benefits in pattern analysis and organizing the context and theory around the transactions. Our results show that cryptocurrency transactions are generally identifiable (90%) and involve likely illegal transactions, transactions that attempt to obfuscate other transactions, and legal transactions. We end with a discussion of newer cryptocurrencies and related technology and how they will likely shape future work.
Mapping Real-World Use of the Onion Router
Since its inception, The Onion Router (TOR) has been discussed as an anonymizing tool used for nefarious purposes. Past scholarship has focused on publicly available lists of onion URLs containing illicit or illegal content. The current study is an attempt to move past these surface-level explanations and into a discussion of actual use data; a multi-tiered system to identify real-world TOR traffic was developed for the task. The researcher configured and deployed a fully functioning TOR “exit” node for public use. A Wireshark instance was placed between the node and the “naked” internet to collect usage data (destination URLs, length of visit, etc.), but not to deanonymize or otherwise unmask TOR users. For 6 months, the node ran and collected data 24 hr per day, which produced a data set of over 4.5 terabytes. Using Python, the researcher developed a custom tool to filter the URLs into human-readable form and to produce descriptive data. All URLs were coded and categorized into a variety of classifications, including e-commerce, banking, social networking, pornography, and cryptocurrency. Findings reveal that most TOR usage is rather benign, with users spending much more time on social networking and e-commerce sites than on those with illegal drug or pornographic content. Likewise, visits to legal sites vastly outnumber visits to illegal ones. Although most URLs collected were for English-language websites, there were a sizable amount for Russian and Chinese sites, which may demonstrate the utilization of TOR in countries where internet access is censored or monitored by government actors. Akin to other new technologies which have earned bad reputations, such as file-sharing program BitTorrent and intellectual property theft or cryptocurrency Bitcoin and online drug sales, this study demonstrates that TOR is utilized by offenders and non-offenders alike.
In the Name of Dark Web Justice: A Crime Script Analysis of Hacking Services and the Underground Justice System
The Dark Web serves as a key venue for peddling illegal goods and services, from stolen possessions and drugs to illicit activities. The concurrent increase in Tor network usage and the development of cryptocurrency has led to the creation of major black market sites. One of the most popular illicit services offered on the Dark Web is hacking, which includes website/social media account hacking, Denial-of-service attacks, and custom malware. At the same time, the Dark Web community has formed its own justice system leveraging the layer of anonymity that exists between underground community users and the cybercrime ecosystem. Existing studies predominantly focus on the major drug market operating on the Dark Web, firearm sales, sexual exploitation, and money laundering. To address the gaps in the current research as well as the relative nascency of an underground justice system to monitor hacking services on the Dark Web, this study attempts to broadly capture the dynamic nature of hacking services, which requires continuous research to identify new trends and develop effective responses. The study aims to examine the characteristics and the operations of the hacking service market and the underground justice system on the Dark Web via an in-depth examination of Dark Web forums with a crime script analysis vis-à-vis thematic analysis. The study defines the crime script as that which includes pretrial, mid-trial, finalization, and exit stages. This research sheds light on Dark Web justice courts’ procedures and the courts’ implications for shaping the future of the Dark Web.
The “Yelp-Ification” of the Dark Web: An Exploration of the Use of Consumer Feedback in Dark Web Markets
Law enforcement are tasked with confronting a variety of crimes on a daily basis, ranging from traditional offenses, such as burglary or assault, to online crimes, such as identity theft. The expansion of the internet has provided a new realm for investigatory consideration as buyers seek the tools of the crime as well as illegal products online. Since the inception of the Silk Road, the Dark Web’s first darknet marketplace, buyers and sellers have worked together to distribute and obtain products and services that were previously only available offline. For example, drugs, weapons, consumer data such as credit cards numbers, and other illicit products are all available for purchase on the Dark Web. Early on, Ross Ulbricht, founder of the original Silk Road Dark Web marketplace, incorporated consumer “reviews” on illegal websites to protect customers and to ensure that sellers were not taking advantage of potential buyers. The nature of illicit markets, where websites, vendors, or markets themselves can be online one day and gone the next, present challenges to developing a complete understanding as to how these networks operate. This study builds on existing research by providing an exploratory examination of the prevalence of consumer feedback and review indicators on approximately 50 Dark Web marketplaces. Findings indicate that more than half of explored sites displayed consumer reviews on their postings. Policies incorporating feedback indicators may be implemented to both identify and target for investigation and prosecution highly rated and high-profile sellers on Dark Web markets.
The Dark Web: What Is It, How to Access It, and Why We Need to Study It
The dark web is a subsection of the deep web that conventional search engines cannot index. As an encrypted network of websites, the dark web can only be accessed using special browsers such as Tor. Tor, formerly an acronym for “The Onion Router,” is a free and open-source software intended to protect the personal privacy of its users and keep their internet activities unmonitored. While the dark web is known for both legitimate and illegitimate purposes, it remains notorious for facilitating illegal and deviant activities ranging from drug dealing to child pornography, human trafficking, arms dealing, and extremist recruitment. Accordingly, researching and understanding the dark web is a critical and essential step in fighting and preventing cybercrime. However, studying the dark web poses unique challenges. This special issue seeks to provide a platform for researchers and criminologists to share and discuss research designs and methods that help shed light on the actual activity going on in the dark web’s shadowy realms.
Keeping Pace With the Evolution of Illicit Darknet Fentanyl Markets: Using a Mixed Methods Approach to Identify Trust Signals and Develop a Vendor Trustworthiness Index
Illicit darknet markets (DNMs) are highly uncertain and in a perpetual state of flux. These markets thrive in a zero-trust, high-risk environment. However, the trustworthiness of vendors plays a critical role in illicit transactions and the sustainability of the illegal trade of goods and services on DNMs. Focusing on the illicit fentanyl trade and applying signaling theory and embedded mixed methods design, we examined different ways that trustworthiness is signaled by vendors on darknet sites. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, in recent years, has been declared a public health emergency in the United States due to its high potency and unprecedented number of deaths associated with its use; however, the topic remains understudied and requires urgent attention. There are few studies that have focused on fentanyl trafficking on DNMs and no mixed method studies that have focused specifically on trust signals in DNM fentanyl networks. In our research, first, we conducted a focus group and in-depth interviews with criminal justice professionals to understand the inner workings of darknet sites, fentanyl networks, and how trust is assessed. Second, we scraped select darknet sites to collect and curate scraped data for later examination of vendor trustworthiness on DNMs. Third, using signaling theory to understand how vendors signal trustworthiness on select darknet sites selling drugs, including fentanyl, we applied both qualitative and quantitative content analysis of DNM features, and language used in vendor profiles, listings, and product/vendor reviews, to inform the development of a trustworthiness index. In this research, we used software, such as Atlas.ti and Python, to analyze our data. The main purpose of this article is to provide an in-depth description of the mixed methods approach we used to inform the development of a vendor trustworthiness index, which we used to examine trust between illicit fentanyl vendors and buyers. Our research can serve as a guide for the development of DNM vendor trustworthiness index for future research on other illegal markets.
Trust Factors in the Social Figuration of Online Drug Trafficking: A Qualitative Content Analysis on a Darknet Market
The rise in illicit drug trafficking on darknet markets (DNMs) was boosted by those restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to put this trend into context by exploring the characteristics of vendors’ services and reputations and understand how products are advertised and what customers tend to value. Qualitative content analysis was conducted on a sample (n = 100) randomly selected from 6,357 product descriptions and a sample (n = 500) randomly selected from 34,619 reviews. Both samples are from products found in the drug category of the darknet market Dark0de Reborn. On the supply side, vendors tended to provide basic information on the drugs, a mention of their high quality, the speed and stealth of delivery, their availability for responding to messages, the effects of the drugs, and sometimes even instructions for use. Regarding the demand side, customers usually praised the quality of the product, mentioned the speed and stealth-secure packaging of delivery as essentials, and expressed only a small number of issues. These results support the applicability of Norbert Elias’ social figuration theory in which the interdependencies of the actors are fueled by trust. This theoretical frame sheds light on the social value of the community of DNMs. Furthermore, the findings formulate a robust hypothesis for future research about the previously undervalued role of delivery providers.
An Assessment of Cryptomixing Services in Online Illicit Markets
The internet has become a popular marketplace for the sale of illicit products, including stolen personal information, drugs, and firearms. Many of these products are acquired using cryptocurrencies, which are generally defined as forms of digital currency that is traceable through blockchain ledger technology. These currencies are thought to be more secure than other forms of digital payment, though law enforcement and financial service providers have found ways to investigate account holders and their transactions. Consequently, several service providers have begun to offer cryptomixing services, which effectively launders payments to circumvent detection and investigation tools. Few have explored the practices of cryptomixing services, or the ways in which they are marketed on the Open and Dark Web. This inductive qualitative analysis will examine a sample of 18 cryptomixing services advertised on both the Open and Dark Web to better understand cryptomixing and its role in facilitating illicit transactions across the internet.