The criminals hiding in the “dark web” must take off their “invisibility”

The "invisible and intangible" "dark web" provides great convenience for criminals to rampantly commit crimes and hide criminal traces, so that criminal acts committed by criminals can be spread to a wider range, and the harm is possible in both depth and breadth. It is unprecedented. How to establish a comprehensive information security protection system, do a good job in the investigation and control of risk points and hazard sources, etc., are new challenges that relevant departments should actively face.

According to a report by China Youth Daily, the Public Security Bureau of Nantong City, Jiangsu Province recently announced that Nantong and Rudong public security agencies cracked an extraordinarily large “dark web” infringement of citizens ’personal information, arresting 27 criminal suspects and seizing the sale. There are more than 50 million pieces of personal data of citizens. This case was listed by the Ministry of Public Security as one of the 10 typical cases of violations of citizens ’personal information that have been detected by public security agencies nationwide since 2019.

The "dark web" has been mentioned more and more frequently in some cases in recent years. It refers to the use of encrypted transmission, P2P peer-to-peer networks and other technologies to provide users with anonymous Internet information access. The data in the "dark web" is difficult to retrieve with conventional browsers and search engines, and related transactions also use virtual electronic money.

If you think of the Internet world as an iceberg, then the network we use every day is just a corner of the sea, and the Internet world, including the "dark web", is buried deep under the sea level, and many people will not touch it for a lifetime. . It is precisely because of its concealment and anonymity that the "dark web" of "invisible and intangible" provides great convenience for criminals to rampantly commit crimes and hide the traces of crimes, and even put some "invisibility" on some criminals. clothes".

For example, buying and selling personal information, spreading obscene materials, drug dealing, and human trafficking are all common criminal activities of the "dark web." After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the "dark web" criminals even began to resell masks, testing reagents and other epidemic prevention materials.

The frequent occurrence of illegal and criminal acts in the "dark web" has also promoted the growth of certain secondary risks and derived crimes. For example, the fission of personal information caused by the purchase and sale of personal information on the "dark web" has made telecom fraud crimes increasingly " "Fine" has contributed to the high prevalence of Internet financial crimes that embezzle personal information.

Technology itself is neutral, and once the technology is "blackened", the consequences are terrible. It will help abuse and spread the crimes committed by criminals to a larger scope, and the harm may be unprecedented in depth and breadth. In the case of trafficking in personal information, pornographic gambling and drug trafficking, and even human trafficking, the "dark web" and other illegal methods cause more harm than many people imagine.

Therefore, to invest more human, material and financial resources to prevent the raging of technologies such as the "dark web", we must immediately put it on the agenda. For example, public security organs, network information departments, and Internet companies have strengthened cooperation, technically tightened access to the "dark web", improved the ability to track down and locate users of the "dark web," and improved data security factors.

From another perspective, the "dark web" is just a means and tool, and the traditional crimes and derivative risks revived by the "dark web" are also worthy of vigilance. For example, as far as the current disclosure is concerned, most of the personal information sold by criminal suspects is bank account opening, mobile phone registration and other data. This actually points to the old problem, that is, the weak corporate security protection infrastructure and large server vulnerabilities in the personal information of citizens 2. Insufficient ability to deal with the risk of information leakage, leading to information leakage. It can be seen that the opportunities for criminals still come from where they can be seen. Therefore, another point of attack against the "dark web" still lies in the "clear web".

The Cyber ​​Security Law, officially implemented in June 2017, provides principle provisions for the collection and use of citizens ’personal information, and has become a basic guide for all types of enterprises, institutions, and social groups to do a good job of protecting citizens’ personal information. Regrettably, there are always some people and some companies will stretch out their hands motivated by interests, whether it is active-the courier sells express delivery orders, programmers vent their anger and leak, or passive-the website stores sensitive information unencrypted, chain Hotel opening information has been "crashed", etc. These actions have provided "fertile ground" for the business in the "dark web" to a certain extent.

Blocking illegal and criminal acts in the "dark web" and building a secure network environment requires all parties to work together, and source governance and compaction of the subject's responsibility are undoubtedly the focus. For example, to prevent derivative crimes caused by "dark web" information leakage from happening again, the best way is to prevent information leakage from happening again. How to establish a comprehensive information security protection system, do a good job in the investigation and control of risk points and hazard sources, etc., are new challenges that relevant departments should actively face.