Financial activity dominates dark web

Researchers at Monash University have found that the majority of illegal and unethical dark web sites are devoted to financial activity, such as bitcoin laundering.

The remainder are related to drug commerce and trading of illicit materials such as child exploitation material.

Having obtained the blessing of the Australian Federal Police to conduct the project, the researchers used TOR software to conduct an unrestricted crawl of 200,000 sites.

The objective was to test a classification model that could identify user behaviour and motivation, with the ultimate aim of being able to apply that intelligence in law enforcement.

For legal and ethical considerations, Monash PhD student Janis Dalins had to be appointed as a Federal Agent to lead the research.

“This collaboration creates the foundation for potentially game-changing research in fields such as artificial intelligence in digital forensics and law enforcement,” Dalins said.

Dr Campbell Wilson, of Monash University’s Faculty of IT, said it was hoped that machine learning algorithms can be better trained to provide law enforcement with more powerful tools in the fight against online criminal activity.

Professor Jon Whittle, Dean of the faculty, added that the research success in this area demonstrates the value of IT in action, focused on solving real-world problems.

“Advanced computer science techniques are enabling us to better understand and monitor the dark web. Our team at Monash are leading the way in this effort and having a real positive impact on community safety in conjunction with law enforcement agencies,” Professor Whittle said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Leo Lintang

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