"Deep Web: Murderer for hire from 180,000 $

The "deep web" is that part of the Internet whose pages are not accessible and discoverable via search engines or standard browser technologies. Often, therefore, the "deep" is equated with the "dark", the "dark web", a term used as a synonym for illegal activities. Such dark webs are also useful, even vital, for whistleblowers or dissidents in repressive regimes.

Virtually everything that exists on the visible part of the Internet can be found on the Deep Web: Blogs, news sites, discussion forums, religious offerings or even radio stations. Like-minded people gather here who, for example, want to be protected from unwanted advertising or want to remain anonymous for whatever reason. The predominant languages of the "Deep Web" are English and Russian; measured in terms of the number of web addresses, the world language even comes in second.

But of course, the gangsters are also retreating into ever greater depths of the Internet. This can be seen, for example, in the ranking of the most traded goods on the "Deep Web: Cannabis is in first place here, followed by drugs that are not freely available. Only then do hard drugs, video games and access data to bank accounts or credit card information follow.

The fact that more and more activities of the criminal underground are migrating to the deep or dark web has not least to do with the increased search pressure of the police authorities. Banking Trojans such as Vawtrak or ransomware such as TorrentLocker therefore use TOR techniques to ensure that the criminal behind them remain as undetected as possible. Together with strong encryption techniques, law enforcement agencies and IT security providers will therefore have a hard time catching the culprits in the future.

From darkness to light

The deep web and the dark are not separate from the visible Internet or even from the real world. One of the most frightening findings of the Trend Micro study is the percentage of web addresses found on "deep web" pages that are associated with child sexual abuse. These account for no less than a quarter of all web addresses found, the company's analysis showed.

While offers for fake identities - a German ID card, passport and driver's license can be had in a package for as little as 700 euros - seem harmless, other cases send shivers down the spine: If you want to have a high-ranking political or business figure murdered, you can hire an assassin for as little as $180,000. If the murder is to look like an accident, the price rises to 300,000 U.S. dollars, but that should not deter the client in any way. And other acts of violence, such as bombings, beatings or rapes, can be had for much less.

"The criminal activities of the deep and dark web eventually find their way into the light, into the visible Internet or the real world," said Martin Rösler, head of the threat research team at Trend Micro. "As an IT security vendor that also actively works with law enforcement agencies around the world, we need to keep an even closer eye on the deep and dark regions of the Internet than we have in the past. Our two years of research in this area has shown that. This is the only way we can continue to effectively protect our customers from cybercrime and espionage in the future."

Trend Micro published the results of its deep web analysis in a research paper "Beneath the surface: exploring the Deep Web" has been summarized. For this purpose also a Background video produced.