At 10%, the US ranked 11th — the same as Australia, Hong Kong, Germany, and Japan. Deep Web stats from 2023’s third quarter reveal that Iranians made up 24.44% of Tor’s bridge users, while people from the United States accounted for 15.08%. The top 10 for the period also included users from Germany (2.77%), Turkmenistan (2.39%), China (2.38%), France (1.83%), United Kingdom (1.77%), Netherlands (1.37%), and India (1.27% of Tor’s daily bridge users). Its focus on financial fraud and high-value transactions has attracted a dedicated user base, contributing to its growing reputation and market value.
What Is The Main Cryptocurrency Used On The Dark Web?
One of the many creepy Dark Web facts is that marketplaces don’t just sell forged and stolen documents and credentials — they also sell malicious software hackers can use to infect their targets. As of 2023’s first quarter, top-quality malware sold for $4,500 per 1,000 installations. High-quality malware with a slightly lower success rate went for $1,500–$1,600 (depending on the target region), and medium-quality malware with a 70% success rate sold for up to $700.
Australia’s government has stepped up its response to the dark web’s threats. The 2025 Federal Budget earmarked $350 million for cybercrime prevention, with a focus on dark web surveillance and disruption of illegal marketplaces. New legislation has empowered law enforcement agencies to use advanced cyber tools—sometimes controversially—to infiltrate and dismantle criminal operations online. It’s time for our annual peek behind the curtain into the recesses of the dark web! New developments on the dark web often reveal how—and why—attackers evolve their tactics and techniques.
Tor Averaged More Than 461 Million Daily Users In Q3 Of 2023
Founded in 2014, BriansClub remains one of the oldest and most infamous dark web markets for stolen credit cards, fullz (complete identity kits), and dumps. Launched after the takedown of AlphaBay in 2021, Abacus Market has rapidly risen to prominence. It features over 40,000 listings including narcotics, counterfeit items, hacking tools, and stolen data.
Hacked Online Services & Entertainment Accounts
Several media productions, intelligence companies, hackers, snoopers, and whistleblowers use the dark web for their respective tasks. Moreover, some users use this hidden part of the internet to stay away from prying eyes. However, as the name indicates, this shady part refers to hosting illegal and inappropriate activities, including drug selling, hacking, etc. However, there are several “.onion” search engines like “onion.city”, “onion.to”, and “notevil” that you can use to find suitable marketplaces.
- The forum is used for all cybercriminal types, but a particularly large population of initial access brokers have been observed, especially in the “Auctions” section of the forum.
- The next subsection provides an overview of the customised crawler we implemented for conducting this research.
- During our research, we noticed that there is a market where the product listing data can be obtained by submitting a single request to the server API.
- In 2023 the dark web has over 2.5 million daily visitors, and it’s estimated that more than half of those visitors have participated in illegal activities.
- Another key player is NebulaTrade, which focuses on user anonymity through advanced Tor routing and zero-knowledge proofs.
The Darknet – A Wild West For Fake Coronavirus ‘cures’? The Reality Is More Complicated (and Regulated)
Vendors and buyers benefit from end-to-end encryption, which protects communication and payment details from unauthorized access. As of today, users may not use Reddit to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services,” the company wrote. Flare’s high risk threat monitoring solution provides automated dark web monitoring, which frees up time and resources for other important security tasks. The platform takes around 15 minutes to set up and it decreases dark web investigation time by 10x.
Darknet Markets Darknet List 2025 Darknet Market Links Darknet Market Links In 2025
These websites use complex addresses ending in “.onion” instead of familiar “.com” endings. Given these threats, it is imperative for small businesses to conduct regular cybersecurity assessments and implement robust security measures to protect their assets and maintain customer trust. This evolution highlights the dynamic nature of cyber threats and the imperative for businesses to proactively adapt their cybersecurity measures. In fact, there are many more aggressive security tests we could have done, such as the rate limiting and the OWASP Top Ten.Footnote 7 But for ethical reasons, we figured we did not want to be a potential attacker. On the other hand, some markets offer bug bounty programs that actually allow for a certain level of agreement to conduct some security testing on the market.
Top VPN Deals
The Australian dark web game has evolved over the years, and now it is a thriving economy for hackers, criminals, and hacktivist groups. This information can be used to target ads and monitor your internet usage. Also, there’s a vast amount of unsavory content on the dark web, as well as a significantly high number of hackers and scammers looming on the platform. Simply accessing the dark web and using the Tor browser may already raise government suspicion. Simply download the file, install the software, and you’re ready to use its web-based interface. That alone might already raise suspicion and place you under special surveillance.
Its capital city had the highest consumption of MDA and second-highest consumption of MDMA. Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA is a stimulant drug often consumed as ecstasy and molly. Meanwhile, MDA is methylenedioxyamphetamine, a drug less hallucinogenic than ecstasy but is also abused. Various capital cities throughout Australia have high levels of drug and alcohol consumption.
At the end of 2023, neither of the aforementioned forums are accessible anymore. Some new forums joined the underground scene in 2023, including BlackForums, a blackhat forum that specializes in database leakage and contains discussions about malware and tools. The forum remains comparatively small with just over 2,500 members but is noteworthy for partnering up with the ThreatSec hacktivist group. In some cases, established sellers on closed-down markets are welcomed onto new markets as digital “refugees” and have joining fees waived. The durability of these markets tells us that if policing responses keep following the same playbook, they will keep getting the same results.
Since 2020, 2easy has sold massive stealer logs with sensitive data like passwords, bank cards, and initial access credentials. It supports operations in multiple languages and operates on both clearnet and Tor. The sad truth is that the growing supply of personal information on the Dark Web makes it cheaper—and therefore more likely—that your accounts will be hacked.
However, when you get used to following them, they’ll become second nature. That’s when you develop a sense of vital cybersecurity online and in daily life. Install anti-virus or other anti-malware software on your personal computer to check for malware.
From darknet markets to ransomware gangs’ data leak portals, criminals are constantly innovating. Last year’s blog, How the Dark Web Works, described the basics of the dark web, onion routing, how to access the dark web, and more, so this year we’ll focus on new dark web trends in 2023. It, however, becomes illegal when you use it for unlawful activities such as buying drugs, weapons, stolen data, or engaging in cybercrime. Many people, including journalists and researchers, access the dark web legally for work-related purposes. Understanding how the dark web works can help you protect your digital life (including assets).
Pakistan topped the list with 100 index points (maximum), followed by Kenya (89 points) and Myanmar (87 points). The top 10 also included Bangladesh (78), Ethiopia (75), Nepal (75), Cameroon (67), Tanzania (66), Nigeria (65), and Sri Lanka (63 index points). Established in 2022, WizardShop is one of the biggest data stores on the dark web, focusing mainly on carding and financial data.
