The Founder of Dark Web
In 2011, the founder of the dark web, Ross Ulbricht, launched Silk Road, an online marketplace that offered hacked passwords, forged identification documents, hard drugs and hitmen. He named himself “Dread Pirate Roberts” online, a reference to a character in the movie The Princess Bride.
Ulbricht’s site was made possible by the creation of Tor, which routes Internet traffic through a series of encrypted servers. This technology was originally developed by the military to allow spies to communicate anonymously.
Ross Ulbricht
When he created Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht had dreams of creating a open marketplace where people could buy and sell illegal drugs and other contraband. But the marketplace was closed down after only two years by a massive FBI raid. Ulbricht was arrested in San Francisco in 2013. He was convicted of running the site, which allowed people to make transactions using untraceable cryptocurrencies, and was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years.
Silk Road was a hidden website that used Tor, a network that anonymizes internet connections, to hide its users’ identities. This part of the internet was not accessible by normal search engines and required special software to access. In order to maintain user anonymity, the website used bitcoin as its currency, and all transactions were encrypted. The site also sold a variety of illegal items, including weapons, counterfeit cash, and fake ID documents. The FBI alleged that Silk Road was responsible for at least six drug-related deaths.
While the FBI seized the site and arrested Ulbricht, many of its supporters believe that he was unfairly convicted. They argue that he was smeared by false murder-for-hire allegations that were never proven in court and were amplified by sensationalized media reports. In addition, they claim that the presiding judge, Katherine Forrest, gave him an unfairly harsh sentence given that others who have been found guilty of similar crimes are free to go.
Lyn Ulbricht, Ross’s mother, has been campaigning for his clemency since his conviction. She has spoken at conferences and petitioned the courts. She is currently waiting for the Supreme Court to hear her case.
Ulbricht has continued to keep in touch with his family via social media and has been writing a blog from prison. He posts about meditation, visits, and exercise, and shares snippets of his day-to-day life in prison. In his blog, he also discusses topics such as criminal justice reform in the US. Ulbricht has also been a vocal supporter of marijuana legalization. He has been using marijuana for medical purposes while in prison, and is arguing that the federal government should allow it to be used for this purpose.
Silk Road
When people think of the Silk Road, they usually picture the centuries-old mercantile and cultural exchange that took place between China, Central Asia, Persia, Europe, and India. It was a crucial period in the history of humanity, enabling the spread of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Zoroastrianism. Today, the Silk Road is a metaphor for online criminal marketplaces, where users can buy and sell illicit drugs, weapons, and other goods. The FBI has caught the man they say created the world’s biggest criminal marketplace and arrested him in the US.
Ross Ulbricht, 29, was arrested by Hidden wiki link federal agents in October 2013 for his role in creating the Silk Road website. He is accused of committing money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics. In addition, prosecutors allege that Ulbricht attempted to hire someone to kill at least five individuals who threatened his business. The charges against him carry a maximum sentence of life without parole.
The FBI’s case against Ulbricht revolves around his use of the dark web, a part of the Internet that is hidden from traditional search engines and cannot be indexed by Google or other services. The dark web is a place where websites can be hosted without government regulation, making it difficult for law enforcement to identify and prosecute criminal activity.
To maintain users’ and sellers’ anonymity, the Silk Road site used bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that is encrypted to prevent it from being traced by authorities. The site was popular over a short period of time because it allowed people to purchase and trade items without fear of government prosecution.
Ulbricht reportedly made more than 9.5 million bitcoins in sales revenue, earning him commissions on the illicit drug deals that took place on his site. He was also charged with running an organized crime syndicate that allegedly operated as an international cartel.
Although the Silk Road marketplace was shut down by authorities in 2013, other darknet markets continue to operate. These new marketplaces often focus on specific goods, such as drugs or firearms, and offer a variety of transaction systems. Some imitate the functionality of the original Silk Road, while others try to innovate. These new markets are a major concern for law enforcement, which has been battling to stop them. The Silk Road case provides a fascinating criminal justice case study that students in an online bachelor’s degree program can use to develop their knowledge of modern crime.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is digital money that allows you to send online payments quickly and easily around the world without involving banks or brokers. It was designed to allow users to pay each other anonymously, but criminals have taken advantage of its popularity by promoting illegal products and services in dark web marketplaces. These marketplaces often have shady reputations and are difficult to verify.
Dark web sites are not indexed by search engines like Google and can only be accessed using a special browser and a password. They are also often difficult to remember, as their URLs are long strings of seemingly random letters and numbers. Some of these websites contain malware and viruses that can harm your computer or steal your identity. Others have illegal content, such as drugs and weapons.
In addition to drug trafficking and the sale of other contraband, dark web markets also sell stolen user data and fraudulent IDs. These transactions can be used to steal money from your bank accounts, gain access to confidential company information, and even to blackmail or threaten you. They can also put lives at risk by allowing hackers to infect hospitals and other medical facilities with ransomware, or disrupt gas and water supplies for vulnerable citizens. Fortunately, law enforcement is constantly monitoring the dark web and organizing takedown operations to dismantle these illegal marketplaces. In 2021, Europol launched Operation Dark HunTOR, which resulted in the arrests of 150 alleged criminals across Europe and the US.
ARPANET
The origins of the dark web stretch back to the 1960’s with the creation of ARPANET, an experimental computer network that was a precursor to the Internet. It was established to accomplish data sharing over considerable distances without requiring phone connections between computers on the network. It also allowed researchers to log in remotely to a remote computer and use it as if they were physically there. This was a huge step forward for computer communications and led to the development of technologies like virtual private networks and cloud computing.
JCR Licklider wrote a memo in 1963 that outlined the vision for a world-wide network of connected computer systems. He called it the Intergalactic Computer Network, which was meant in jest but essentially captured the idea of connecting all computers globally to share information and resources.
Bob Taylor lobbied for funding to implement Licklider’s idea, and Advanced Research Projects Agency Director Charles Herzfeld redirected funds from a ballistic missile defense program to the project. He hired Larry Roberts to manage the network, and he set out to develop it. Roberts and his team refined the overall network structure and specifications. They issued an RFQ for contractors to build the Interface Message Processors (IMPs) that would connect the computers on the network, and Boston-based Bolt Beranek and Newman (later BBN) won the contract.
In 1965, Lawrence Roberts made two separate computers in different places “talk” to each other for the first time. He sent the first message from a UCLA computer to a Stanford computer. It was supposed to say “login,” but the system crashed after typing just the letters “l” and “o.” Roberts tried again, and the connection worked successfully.
IMPs were shipped to four other ARPA hotbed sites, including the Stanford Research Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara, and University of Utah. When they arrived, the teams at each site got to work producing the software that would enable their IMP and the other IMPs to communicate. Vint Cerf, Steve Crocker, and Jon Postel were among the key developers of this early version of the Internet.
