The Dark Web Unmasked

With all the profit to be made on the Dark Web, the world's largest criminal organizations are hardly likely to ignore it. The gangs and Cartels of Latin America have all begun to stake their claims in the digital world. But you need experts to navigate this world, and so the cartels chose the obvious route: kidnap some. We're on Patreon! Come follow for early access to new episodes: Patreon.com/darkwebpod

We've seen plenty of ways to make money on the dark web, but how do you keep it? Casinos, ATMs, and Bitcoin Tumblers are just a few of the ways criminals around the world try to clean up their dirty money.

Paul Le Roux reigned over the black markets of the Dark Web for nearly a decade. In his time he did not shy from selling drugs, supplying Somali militias with guns, smuggling gold, or even murder. It took a volunteer from within his own organization to take him down. And even then, it wasn't easy.

Sometimes a job is too difficult for a hacker to pull off with one computer. Sometimes they need 400,000. But where to get that kind of power? To take down the BBC, you just have to make your own zombie horde.

In a matter of months three separate mass shooters all posted their manifestos to the imageboard 8chan before carrying out their attack. What is 8chan, and why did they choose to post there? And what other imageboards are out there?

Ransomware, viruses that extort people for access to their own files, is a multi-million dollar industry. And in 2017, one particular piece of ransomware called WannaCry took down 200,000 computers across the world, including the entire UK Healthcare system. Is anyone safe?

Since the invention of the internet, cases of child pornography have risen several thousand percent. Research suggests that 80% of all dark web traffic is to pedophilia sites. Where does all of this material come from? Why can't anyone put a stop to it?

In 2014 Sony was hacked by a group calling themselves the Guardians of Peace, joining a long list of companies that have had their data exposed to the world. Hackers are more than willing to do this work for a very reasonable sum, so why did North Korea do it so sloppily?

For all the attempts to end the practice, there are more slaves today than at any other time in history. But slavers have to keep up with the times like anyone else, so hop in and find out how they've incorporated social media, weed, and bitcoin into their new business models.

Bitcoin is the lynchpin of the darkweb marketplace, making possible all of the transactions that happen there. How can something so fundamental to illegal activity escape being taken down? And honestly, what is a blockchain?

The Dark Web abounds with listings for hitmen willing to kill for crypto. But who are the reliable dealers on the Tor network? Are there any?

Explore the difference between the deep web and the dark web, and get the story behind the Silk Road, the world's most notorious black market.