The dark web’s anonymity not only encourages illegal activities, it keeps many law enforcement agencies largely unaware of its existence, even while their jurisdictions are impacted by online transactional crimes. The criminal side of the dark web relies on anonymizing technology and cryptocurrency to hide its trade in an assortment of contraband such as opioids and other drugs, bomb parts, weapons large and small, child pornography, social security numbers, body parts - even criminal acts for hire. Although the dark web still accounts for just a fraction of all illicit sales online, it appears poised for rapid growth, according to the report. The report, “Identifying Law Enforcement Needs for Conducting Criminal Investigations Involving Evidence on the Dark Web,” explores better ways to investigate dark web crimes. One site alone generated an estimated $219 million in annual revenue as of 2017, according to a new NIJ-supported report by the RAND Corporation (RAND).

The anonymity of illicit activity on the dark web cloaks an enterprise of mounting concern to authorities. On the bad side, the dark web has emerged as an important hub of criminal commerce, a fully functional marketplace where hidden customers can buy from hidden sellers with relative confidence, often with customer ratings available, just as on the public-facing web.

On the good side, the dark web provides anonymous, highly secure communication channels to shield classified government activity and protect reform agents such as human rights activists and journalists opposed by oppressive foreign regimes. The “dark web” is an internet shadow world where the good and the bad co-exist. Research for the Real World: NIJ Seminar Series.Strategic Challenges and Research Agenda.

Tor websites list 2017