According to data from Sixgill, the volume of forum members on the dark web is increasing significantly, with the number of visitors already increasing by 44% during the first COVID-19.
The security firm analyzed forums dark web (in English and Russian) to better understand their popularity over time.
Sixgill collected data from the forums from the beginning to the end of 2020 and found that all five sites saw significant increases in membership, without one affecting the popularity of the other.
Although membership in some forums grew faster than others, and for a few months some were more popular, the overall trend shows a continued increase in the number of users visiting all dark web sites.
Dov Lerner, head of research at Sixgill, stressed that this finding is very important, because the increase in membership in dark web forums also means an increase in criminal activity in general.
Even more interesting was the fact that the numbers increased very rapidly from January to spring 2020.
“Previous Sixgill reports have identified a huge increase in specific types of crime during the COVID-19. These types are related to gaming accounts, compromised RDP credentials, money laundering, drugs, and more. This research shows that the number of participants in dark web forums also increased during this period,” explained Lerner.
“Why are lockdowns leading to a massive increase in users of dark web forums? Some of these users are bored at home and decided to explore. Others may be interested in turning to crime during the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and targeting employees working from home through ransomware and phishing.“.
The research also revealed that while user numbers are increasing , only a small number appear to be responsible for the vast majority of posts on forums . In fact, 20% of participants are responsible for 73% of posts.
Researchers believe this may be because the participants are young and inexperienced criminals, who log in simply to observe but do not actively participate. There is also the possibility that they are experienced users, who create “burner” accounts to post under a new username each time.
Source: Infosecurity Magazine
