Dutch
Police created a dark net website of their own on Monday, in an attempt
to expose the names of current vendors and buyers. If its intention is
to scare that community — just by revealing that the police are keeping
an eye on them — it might be working.
The site, which is accessible by regular browsers and through Tor, is written in English. “The Police and the Judicial Authorities of the Netherlands are not only active in the real world, but also in all corners of the internet,” the site reads. “Here we trace people who are active at Dark Markets and who offer illicit goods or services there. Are you one of them? Then you have our attention.” This is followed by a list of usernames police believe to be active in dark net drug markets. According to the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s office, the dark net site is part of Operation Hyperion, an international operation aimed at internet criminals on the deep web.
“Operation Hyperion resulted in a number of law enforcement leads on cases related to the buying and selling of illicit drugs and other goods on the dark net,” the website of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote. “This operation will also help law enforcement agencies continue to combat the trafficking of illicit goods and services on the dark net through the identification of new smuggling networks and trends.”
What the Dutch authorities’ attention means varies from person to person. On the FAQ page, the Netherlands police write that if one’s username is list on the site, it’s possible that an investigation into their activities maybe initiated, but only if larger amounts of drugs are involved. Those buying smaller, recreational amounts of substances have nothing to fear. As far as how they I’ve identified people, they said: “The Dutch police and judicial authorities actively investigate criminal offenses, also at Dark Markets. We don’t make statements about how we do that.” At the present, Dutch authorities claim they have identified “hundreds” of users.
It’s no great feat to obtain a list of usernames from a dark net drug market. Once an individual has accessed the market, the sellers’ usernames are readily available beside their wares, along with reviews of past transactions. On Alphabay, one of the largest dark net markets, there also exists a forum where buyers and sellers can discuss drug quality, upcoming sales, and generally converse. But because Tor, by design, obscures a user’s IP address, and therefore location, connecting a dark net username with a legal name requires a good deal more work, if it is possible at all. There have been cases, however, in which law enforcement have cracked Tor’s anonymity and the identities of dark net users have been discovered. The Tor Project has said that the vulnerability exploited in these cases has since been patched.
On the subreddit r/DarkNetMarkets, some users have expressed worry over the launching of the site. “Quite an intimidating site IMO,” one user wrote. “If I seen [sic] my market username there I’d shit myself.” However, others have dismissed the Dutch police’s actions as “basic scare tactics.”
Meanwhile, police in Sweden have also identified about 3,000 usernames on the dark net. “We are now in the initial stage of an extensive investigation,” Linda Staaf, head of the intelligence division at the Swedish police department of national operations, said. “We do not yet know how many of these suspicious transfers that will be prosecuted but it is quite clear that one should not believe that one can be anonymous and feel confident about buying drugs via dark net.”
The site, which is accessible by regular browsers and through Tor, is written in English. “The Police and the Judicial Authorities of the Netherlands are not only active in the real world, but also in all corners of the internet,” the site reads. “Here we trace people who are active at Dark Markets and who offer illicit goods or services there. Are you one of them? Then you have our attention.” This is followed by a list of usernames police believe to be active in dark net drug markets. According to the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s office, the dark net site is part of Operation Hyperion, an international operation aimed at internet criminals on the deep web.
“Operation Hyperion resulted in a number of law enforcement leads on cases related to the buying and selling of illicit drugs and other goods on the dark net,” the website of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote. “This operation will also help law enforcement agencies continue to combat the trafficking of illicit goods and services on the dark net through the identification of new smuggling networks and trends.”
What the Dutch authorities’ attention means varies from person to person. On the FAQ page, the Netherlands police write that if one’s username is list on the site, it’s possible that an investigation into their activities maybe initiated, but only if larger amounts of drugs are involved. Those buying smaller, recreational amounts of substances have nothing to fear. As far as how they I’ve identified people, they said: “The Dutch police and judicial authorities actively investigate criminal offenses, also at Dark Markets. We don’t make statements about how we do that.” At the present, Dutch authorities claim they have identified “hundreds” of users.
It’s no great feat to obtain a list of usernames from a dark net drug market. Once an individual has accessed the market, the sellers’ usernames are readily available beside their wares, along with reviews of past transactions. On Alphabay, one of the largest dark net markets, there also exists a forum where buyers and sellers can discuss drug quality, upcoming sales, and generally converse. But because Tor, by design, obscures a user’s IP address, and therefore location, connecting a dark net username with a legal name requires a good deal more work, if it is possible at all. There have been cases, however, in which law enforcement have cracked Tor’s anonymity and the identities of dark net users have been discovered. The Tor Project has said that the vulnerability exploited in these cases has since been patched.
On the subreddit r/DarkNetMarkets, some users have expressed worry over the launching of the site. “Quite an intimidating site IMO,” one user wrote. “If I seen [sic] my market username there I’d shit myself.” However, others have dismissed the Dutch police’s actions as “basic scare tactics.”
Meanwhile, police in Sweden have also identified about 3,000 usernames on the dark net. “We are now in the initial stage of an extensive investigation,” Linda Staaf, head of the intelligence division at the Swedish police department of national operations, said. “We do not yet know how many of these suspicious transfers that will be prosecuted but it is quite clear that one should not believe that one can be anonymous and feel confident about buying drugs via dark net.”
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