Presentation
Associated with the idea of freedom and impunity, the Dark Web, Dark Net, or clandestine internet is a component of the regular internet characterized by greater difficulty in accessing its content.
Accessible through specialized software, the Dark Web offers greater anonymity than the traditional web, making it very useful for journalists, political opponents, and human rights defenders, as well as for selling illegal products or content.
Cybercrime. This is how a new space has emerged within which numerous criminal offenses are committed.
The legendary untraceability of the Dark Web, however, remains a myth in light of the increasing police operations targeting some of its users.
Dark Web: Second largest French platform dismantled
On June 12, the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ) arrested three people as part of the dismantling of one of the main French-language dark web platforms: “French Deep Web-Market.”
As part of an investigation launched in 2018 by the National Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigations (DNRED), this platform, accessible via the Tor network, had approximately 6,000 users, including 700 sellers of weapons, drugs, and counterfeit documents.
They are being prosecuted for a wide range of offenses: complicity in drug trafficking, weapons offenses, fraud, forgery, use of forged administrative documents, and supply of forged documents.
The investigation quickly uncovered a list of offenses, including criminal conspiracy, providing equipment specifically designed to attack automated data processing systems (ADPS), and conspiracy to attack ADPS.
Three men were arrested following the operation launched on June 13 and 14, 2019, in Bordeaux, Lisieux, Nice, Metz, and Rennes. The “chief” administrator, V1ctor, a 44-year-old nurse, was arrested in the French Riviera city.
Dark Web: Second victory for customs services
This operation marks the second state intervention against Dark Web platforms, following the dismantling of the Black Hand forum in June 2018.
Its administrator—a 28-year-old woman from Lille—and two moderators are in pretrial detention for conspiracy to commit crimes punishable by five to ten years’ imprisonment.
For several years, numerous international operations have been conducted to combat this new form of cybercrime, regularly resulting in numerous arrests and the dismantling of platforms.
