14 DAY TRIAL // The FBI has shut down Silk Road, one of the most notorious online crime marketplaces, and arrested its alleged operator. However, experts warn that the criminal underground, also known as the deep web, doesn’t rely only on TOR to remain anonymous and untraceable.
In a paper published today, Trend Micro researchers analyze several popular darknets such as TOR, I2P, and Freenet, and alternative top-level domains known as “rogue TLDs.”
For instance, experts have found that more stolen accounts and account information is sold on Russian underground forums than on TOR websites.
As far as prices are concerned, on TOR sites, a bank account with a $1,000 (€750) balance costs around $126 (€92), while on underground forums, an account with a $1,000 (€750) – $2,000 (€1,500) is sold for $100 (€75).
On deep web marketplaces, credit cards can be bought for between $10 (€7.5) and $150 (€110). On the other hand, on Russian forums, such data can be purchased for as little as $2 ($1.5).
“Recent revelations about wide-scale nation-state monitoring of the Internet and recent successful arrests of cybercriminals behind sites hosted in the deepweb are starting to produce other changes,” Trend Micro noted in the report.
“It would not be surprising to see the criminal underbelly becoming more fragmented into alternative darknets or private networks, further complicating the job of investigators. For example, the recent shutdown of the Silk Road marketplace is a big blow for the underground trade of illegal items,” the paper continues.
“However, the deepweb has the potential to host an increasingly high number of malicious services and activities and, unfortunately, it will not be long before new large marketplaces emerge.”
The complete paper, called Deepweb and Cybercrime: It’s Not All About TOR is available on Trend Micro’s website.