The Deep Web: Shutdowns, New Sites, New Tools
2014 was a year in flux for the Deep Web. We briefly discussed this in our annual security roundup, but this is a topic worth exploring in some detail.
In late 2013, the operator of the Silk Road marketplace, Ross Ulbricht (also known as Dread Pirate Roberts) was arrested, and recently he was convicted on various charges by a US federal court. Naturally, because the market abhors a vacuum, replacement marketplaces have shown up. Of course, many of these have led short - and colorful - lives before collapsing.
This was not the only factor that led to chaos and disorder within the Deep Web. Law enforcement actions also shut down multiple market places, and technical developments in anonymity and cryptocurrency technology have also changed the Deep Web in 2014.
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