POSTED BY Rebecca Rubin
Far below the all-seeing eye of the Internet lies the almost impenetrable and vast Deep Web. A relatively hidden virtual surface, out of reach of most standard search engines, technologically-savvy criminals have been able to set up Ebay-like platforms to make a quick buck. However, a recent October 2013 bust on a website called Silk Road has penetrated the anonymity many users thought they had, further contributing to the death of electronic privacy.
The creation of Silk Road by Ross William Ulbricht, a.k.a. “Dread Pirate Roberts,” in early 2011 launched a virtual black market listing over 10,000 products, 70% of which consisted of drugs, most of which are illegal. By using a free software called TOR, originally created by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to protect government communications from being accessed by just anyone, Ulbricht was able to protect his internet identity and allow over 900,000 registered users to remain anonymous while they engaged in illegal sales. In just over 2 years, from the creation of Silk Road in February 2011 until its eventual recent shut down, Ulbricht’s enterprise earned roughly $1.2 billion in revenue.
The TOR software, otherwise known as the “Onion Router” enables anonymity through the multi-layer encryption of internet traffic, where communications bounce around within the TOR network of relays, allowing for thorough secrecy. TOR makes it simple to evade internet surveillance since the user’s location remains concealed during any type of traffic analysis performed by the government. While it is resilient software, it does have minor imperfections where communications entering and exiting the network could be intercepted.
Silk Road was only one of many black markets available to users. Websites selling weapons, porn, and hit-men are still rampant. Users purchase Bitcoin, a virtual currency, to conduct secure purchases within the Deep Web. The Bitcoin is also subject to a virtual market, where its value can go up or down, and while it is used for legitimate and legal purchases, within the Deep Web it further ensures purchasing anonymity.
TOR can be downloaded by any privacy conspiracy loving, fear-driven internet user who wants to hide from government surveillance and eliminate their data-trails. While it was created for the sole benefit of government, it seems government cannot even control its own design, never mind the ever-increasing world of technology, and hackers or cybercriminals are sure to multiply. TOR is downloadable with the click of a button, just as simple as downloading a simple web browser like Firefox. To get around the inescapable grasp of government tracking, more average individuals may find themselves downloading TOR, or going to even greater lengths to protect their privacy, just like Ulbricht.
The government, in creating these types of technologies, may seemingly be doing more harm than good. Ulbricht was eventually detained because of a lazy slip-up; he accessed his website on an unencrypted network in a San Francisco café. Yet, any determined, vigorous, surveillance-fighting individual could have allowed Silk Road to live on, all the while laughing at the government’s attempts to bring it down. With the creation of impressive anonymous-inducing software like TOR, just what other mediums will be available to evade surveillance in the near future? This could be the future of a ruthless War on Privacy, a war which the government just might not win.
