Netcraft Dark Markets Workshop

Date: 2023-11-08

Difficulty: Beginner

Delivered By: Netcraft & Sam Kitson

Overview

We're excited to announce an upcoming SUCSS workshop delivered by cybercrime disruption specialists Netcraft! This session will take place in the Zepler Level 3 Computing Lab - please remember that no food or drink is allowed in here, and we'll be moving to another room afterwards for pizza.

This is a fantastic opportunity to hear from industry experts about how dark markets operate on Tor, get hands-on experience defending and attacking them in a simulated environment and hear about Netcraft's exciting internship & graduate opportunities... and there's free pizza. Please make sure you sign up here so that we order enough food for everyone.

Prerequisites

Please sign up at this link to register your attendance: sign-up form.

You will also need to install the Tor browser, which is available for free here.

Challenges

In May 2023, American and European law enforcement agencies announced the seizure of the Monopoly dark market, less than 2 years after it launched, along with $53.4 million in cash and virtual currency, 850kg of drugs, and 117 firearms. Its operator, Milomir Desnica, is thought to have made at least $18 million in commission. The anonymity of Desnica would have been under constant attack: from thieves wishing to steal his Bitcoin, from many countries' law enforcement operatives wishing to lock him up and throw away the key, and from gangsters wishing to find him and force him to give up his Bitcoin. One small mistake could lead to the loss of his newfound wealth, permanent incarceration, or a tortuous, grisly death. Despite this extreme risk/reward ratio, many others are also brave enough to operate similar dark markets that are still live.

Your challenge, after a short tutorial outlining and illustrating the concepts, is to spend an hour bullet-proofing your dark market and then defend it for 20 minutes against your peers, whilst discovering the identity of as many of their Hidden Services as you can. Netcraft staff will be available to help. Contract assassinations may lead to disqualification.

Useful resources

Netcraft is the leading cybercrime disruption company, with offices in London, Bath, and Manchester. They offer summer internships (for both first and second years), industrial placements, and graduate opportunities. More information about Netcraft can be found at: https://www.netcraft.com/company/student-careers/. Information about applying will be shared at the event.