More research on the dark web- Faye

A recent NBC News report suggested that would-be hackers could visit the dark web to purchase do-it-yourself crime tool kits in order to launch attacks through phishing emails, malware, and ransomware. What security measures have been put in place to prevent the average Joe from carrying out massive hacks?

There have been cases where "average Joes" have indeed bought illegal services from the dark web. But I'm not very concerned about the average Joe buying a malware or hacking service. Sophisticated hacks, as the name suggests, are sophisticated. I don't think an average person can just buy and use them for massive hacks. I, personally, would be more concerned about more sophisticated attacks being sold to more sophisticated actors.

Right now, there are no security measures on the dark web. If you sell something, if you know what you're doing, you can hide your tracks quite efficiently. However, luckily, bad guys do make mistakes and that's how the guy who was running SilkRoad got arrested. If you want to hide your tracks, you need to know quite well what you're doing.

Not long ago, researchers made a surprising discovery on the dark web, finding government-made malware that could be used to target energy grids. What would you say are the biggest dangers posed by the dark web?

I think illegal activity on the dark web is the biggest danger right now. Clearly, we want to have a dark web that provides privacy guarantees for users, but at the same time, we don't necessarily want this technology to be misused for illegal activity. There is no easily solution I am afraid. This discussion is the same discussion that we have around encryption. Governments would love to read every encrypted communication. But should we allow that to happen? What is an individual's right to privacy?

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-03-dangers-dark-web.html#jCp