The Dark Web and Cybercrime: Identifying Threats and Anticipating Emerging Trends

EasyChair Preprint 15190

Abstract

The Dark Web has played a pivotal role in the progress and sophistication of cybercrime. It provides an incubation network beyond the reach of traditional search engines where cybercriminals create and display exploit kits, offers illicit goods and services, and exchange confidential insider intelligence. Cybercriminals are extremely adept at selecting targets, applying tools to achieve their objectives, and minimizing red tape. There is an exponential increase in cybercrime activities as hackers focus on critical infrastructure with increased depth and complexity. The motivation behind cybercrime is fundamentally driven by self-greed which has contributed drastically to the magnitude and changes in methods used by cybercriminals to enhance profitability. The impact of cybercrime on business organizations presents an adverse impact on society and carries significant risks for the progress of individuals and the world at large. As the use of cybercrime continues to metamorphose, the identification of new threats and extrapolation of emerging trends is critical in order to investigate the challenges associated with the monitoring and detection of illegitimate activities on the Dark Web as well as for the establishment of proactive risk management strategies and implementation of robust security measures. Key findings ranging from the rise of crimeware-as-a-service attacks and the increasing use of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning capabilities by cybercriminals to automate the attacks across various businesses and organizations are also propounded along with information related to entry points and cybercrime attack pathways.

Keyphrases: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Crimeware-as-a-Service (CaaS), Cybercrime, Dark Web, IoT (Internet of Things), Machine Learning (ML), Malware, Phishing, Ransomware, exploit kits

@booklet{EasyChair:15190,
  author    = {Sheetal Temara},
  title     = {The Dark Web and Cybercrime: Identifying Threats and Anticipating Emerging Trends},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 15190},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2024}}