The Darkweb Flashcards
Traffic Analysis
A method of identifying locations and identities of traffic sources of interest.
Tor Network
A secure network which utilises strong encryption to exchange important information. It is accessed through the Tor browser, which then transports data through thousands of node machines in a circular path known as a circuit. Before data exchange, the sender provides their public key in exchange for the public key of each node on the circuit. At each hop, the destination node encrypts a combination of a session key and its public key using the senders public key. The sender can then decrypt this using their private key to obtain every public and session key in the circuit. Now sending actual data, each node stores the address of the node before it, uses its private key to decrypt and obtain the next node, then forwards it to this address. For the reply, symmetric encryption is used at each hop using the session keys priorly encrypted at each node.
Directory Node (Tor)
A node which stores a list of all other nodes on the Tor network.
Guard Node (Tor)
The first node accessed on the Tor network when requesting a site.
Exit Node (Tor)
The last node accessed on the Tor network when requesting a site.
Relay Node (Tor)
A node accessed on the Tor network when requesting a site.
Onion Routing
The use of multiple layers of encryption containing more encrypted data within to transmit data.
Surface Web
The fraction of the world wide web easily available to the public.
Deep Web
The background data in the world wide web, often used by the surface web.
Darknet
A section of the world wide web that cannot be accessed by web browsers. It functions via Tor and often facilitates malicious services.
Hidden Services
A service accessed on the Darknet which provides secure online communication, malware and hacking information, databases of personal or sensitive information, and certain financial, musical, and news-based services.
Onion Addresses
Addresses used to access a web page on the Onion browser.
Darknet Marketplace
A virtual shop used for exchange of illegal or controversial services and items such as firearms, false identities, malware, and drugs. Exchanges utilise Bitcoin and Tor.
Silk Road
A former successful Darknet marketplace with illustrated and categorised but often illegal products. It was taken down in 2013, and its creator Ulbricht was jailed.
Deanonymisation
The use of methods to identify users and the location of services. In a Tor network, traffic analysis, perhaps using AI, can be used to achieve this, although the data being exchanged cannot be decrypted. Bitcoin users can also be deanonymized with immense difficulty using traffic analysis across a peer-to-peer network. Bitcoin researchers have created multiple new methods to prevent deanonymisation however, including single-use addresses, multi-signature Bitcoins, and bitcoin tumblers.
