Cyber Crime: Introduction to Darknet, Bitcoin and Stuxnet Virus

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."