CYBER CRIME
Introduction
to Darknet, Bitcoin & Stuxnet Virus
The
data packets in the Internet are wild, run down horses with in-numerous paths
& choices to travel from one router to another hop by hop. Every
system/device on the Internet is interconnected with each other via routers
& switches, which make up the entangled World Wide Web. The deep web/invisible web/hidden web is a part of the World Wide Web whose contents are not indexed by standard search engines for security concerns. Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. are incredibly powerful
search engines, but they cannot index the vast amount of data that is not
hyperlinked in public DNS services.
Dark
Web sites are not as simple as the everyday normal web sites are, they contain
websites hidden and encrypted through numerous network tunnels. The little
programs called the ‘crawlers’ behind the search pages are not able to
hyperlink the deep web pages. Also since Dark Net, the deeper part of the Deep
Web is famous for notorious activities, it is better for a common man to stay
away from it. To access the Dark Net pages, there lies a need for end-to-end
encrypted routing protocols enabled software package called the “Tor”.
In the
Dark Net, users intentionally bury data. Often, these parts of the Web are
accessible only through the use of a special browsing software that helps to
peel away the onion-like layers of the Dark Web. In simple terms, it is a term
given to collectively describe sites which are not directly accessible through
the public network, but only through an intermediary or a proxy.
Precautions
to be followed (while accessing the Dark Net):
1.
If one intends to visit an illegal website, the security
should be set to max.
2.
Tor should be installed on the RAM and not on the
hard drive.
3.
One should learn to control their curiosity.
4.
Some Red Room, CP, Torture, Hitman, etc. sites are
real. Those sites must be stayed away from.
5.
No transactions should be performed through any of
those websites.
6.
Nothing is secure. So the camera and microphone
should always be covered.
Horrifying
Sites from Deep Web
Bizarre and Taboo
customs which are not known to many, crawling in the dark world of the Deep Web
are brought to light in this part.
The reader may not feel
comfortable while going through these affairs, but it is hard to believe that
these sort of things are prevailing throughout the cyberspace.
Few
of the notorious activities from deep web are:-
1. The Human Experiment
This happens to be one of the genuine
sites on the deep web with an immensely inhumane motive. Those who run this
site believe that not all humans are equal and to prove their point they find
homeless people and perform dark and possibly painful experiments on them.
Experiments range from starvation and water/fluid restriction to exposing
infants to harmful radiation.
2. Human Leather
Products made of human leather are sold here.
3. Joy of Satan
An eerie website possibly
intended to satisfy the curiosity of those new to or fans of the horror genre.
4. The Cannibal Cafe Forum
Now
banned by the German government, this cannibalistic forum about eating and
being eaten by people was actively participated in. Some members even chat and
arrange meetups via the forum like, “I need someone to eat my fresh meat. I am
juicy and tender.”
5. Aeroplane Crashes
This
disturbing website records the last communication of aeroplanes right before
they crashed. Here exists all the recordings of the black boxes of the crashed
aeroplanes.
6. Macabre Games
In
this new take on gaming, the creators explore the boundaries of horrifying to
deliver a series of blood-curdling experiences. This interactive game takes the
participant on a journey through a mental asylum.
Bitcoin
To operate and creep into the Deep Web like a ghost, untraced
and undetected by law enforces, there was an urgent need to anonymize the
transfer of money in the deep web. Thus, Bitcoin had a very great impact and
proved to be very imperative for cyber warriors in cyber space.
Bitcoin is a consensus network that enables a new payment
system and completely digital money. It is the first decentralized peer-to-peer
payment network that is powered by its users with no central authority or
middlemen.
Characteristic Features of Bitcoins
It's
anonymous
Users
can hold multiple bitcoin addresses, and they are not linked to names,
addresses, or other personally identifiable information.
It's
decentralized
The bitcoin network isn’t controlled by one central
authority. Every machine that mines bitcoin and processes transactions makes up
a part of the network, and these machines work together. It means that, in
theory, one central authority can’t tinker with monetary policy and cause a
meltdown – or simply decide to take people’s bitcoins away from them.
It's
completely transparent
Bitcoins store details of every single transaction
that ever happened in the network in a huge version of a general ledger, called
the blockchain. The blockchain tells all. If one has a publicly used bitcoin address,
anyone can tell how many bitcoins are stored at that address. The only
information they do not have is to who it belongs.
So in
terms of Darknet, bitcoin is a heavenly form of money. Darknet users make use
bitcoins to perform all kinds of activities, right from buying drugs to hiring
contract killers.
Now, after going through the wild affairs of the darknet and
the added advantage of bitcoin, there comes a very interesting story about how
a malicious code called the “StuXnet” almost took over the whole world.
Stuxnet Virus
In January 2010, inspectors with the
International Atomic Energy Agency visiting the Natanz uranium enrichment plant
in Iran noticed that centrifuges used to enrich uranium gas were failing at an
unexpected rate. The cause was a complete mystery — apparently as much to the
Iranian technicians replacing the centrifuges as to the inspectors observing
them. Five months later a seemingly
unrelated event occurred. A computer security firm in Belarus was called in to
troubleshoot a series of computers in Iran that were crashing and rebooting
repeatedly. Again, the cause of the problem was a mystery. That is, until the
researchers found a handful of malicious files in one of the systems and
discovered the world’s first digital weapon.
Stuxnet, as it came to be known, is unlike any
other virus or worm that came before. Not only can it hijack targeted computers
or steal information from them, but can even escape the digital realm to wreak
physical destruction on equipment the computers controlled.
Stuxnet is a malicious computer worm believed to be a
jointly builtAmerican-Israeli cyber weapon. Stuxnet specifically targets programmable logic
controllers (PLCs), which allow the automation of electromechanical
processes such as those used to control machinery on factory assembly lines,
amusement rides, or centrifuges for separating nuclear material. Stuxnet functions
by targeting machines using the Microsoft Windows operating system and networks, and then seeking out Siemens Step7 software.
Hitman Net: A darker part of the Darknet
The Deep Web shows
the prevalence of another type of clandestine service: contract killers.
These
sites, with URLs consisting of random sequences of alphanumeric characters,
can't be viewed with traditional Web browsers. A Tor browser, which routes
users' information through a system of nodes around the world rendering people
using the service effectively anonymous, is required to obtain access. However,
from there, finding someone with a certain moral flexibility is
as easy as searching "assassin" or "hitman" on one of the
many Deep Web forums or search engines.
A
few of such websites are as follows:
1. Unfriendlysolution
"Doing this over the TOR
network is probably the safest way to do it at all," writes the operator
of Unfriendlysolution on his or her site.
"I do not
know anything about you; you do not know anything about me. The desired victim
will pass away. No one will ever know why or who did this. On top of that I
always give my best to make it look like an accident or suicide."
"I have gained endless
experience(s) in this [sic] 7 years. It has changed me a lot. I don't have any
empathy for humans anymore," Unfriendly Solution boasts. "This makes
me the perfect professional for taking care of your problems and makes me
better than other hitman. If you pay enough I'll do ANYTHING to the desired
victim. If I say anything I mean anything."
Unfriendly Solution only accepts
payment in Bitcoin, the standard currency for Deep Web transactions. Bitcoins
can be transferred electronically between computers or smartphones without an
intermediary institution—making it a safe unit of exchange for people who don't
want their financial activities monitored.
2. C’thulhu Resume
"It is of mutual interest to
make everything anonymous," explains a post on the site of C'thulhu
Resume, another murder-for-hire group. "It means we don't know you and you
don't know us. We can't send you to prison, and you can't send us to
prison."
C'thulhu Resume advertises itself
with the mock cheery slogan: "The best place to put your problems is in a
grave!"
3. Hitman
Network
Hitman Network, which claims to be
a trio of contract killers working in the United States, Canada, and the
European Union, offers people a commission for referring their friends.
"Tell others about this shop, and earn 1% from every purchase they will
make," reads a message on the site.
Unlike some of the other services,
which hold up their lack of ethical considerations as a selling point, Hitman
Network does draw a line between what it will and will not do: "no
children under 16 and no top 10 politicians."
