The administrators of the largest English speaking forum in TOR1 launched a new initiative to help Darknet criminals. On March 2nd, they launched a new R. Search engine (something like Google) which lets users search for illicit items from multiple Darknet Markets at once. Because of this, illicit information will be easier to track down for cybercriminals.


An explanation of the basics for Darknet newcomers A brief explanation for those who are new to the Darknet: The Darknet isn't like the normal web. There's no main website like Google or Bing that allows you to search the whole darknet space. In order to reach any website, you need to know the exact URL or address. There are forums that assist you in your search on the dark net, but to enter them you need to know they exist in the first place. This is why there have been efforts to develop an official search engine in order to aid in the investigation of illegal actions. Of of course, comparing Google to R. Search engines would be an enormous reduction. With Google you can explore the entire Clearnet and using R. search we could investigate the only darknet marketplaces (DNM) with TOR and not even all of them.


Very similar to Google


The idea of a Darknet world market url (DNM) search engine to look through the offers of various retailers isn't new. The only thing that is different are the people who are behind it. It's a group of administrators and moderators of "D. forum" the largest discussion forum within the English domain of TOR which was established in February 2018 in reaction to the blocking of Darknet related topics on Reddit. D. became one of the major informational hubs of TOR. So whenever you look for opinions on DNM and specific DNM vendors, or new fraud methods or you just don't know where to purchase something, that forum is where for a lot of Darknet users go. The same is true for those who chase after tutorials about what to do to prevent fraud brand new services in DNM or the most current events on the Darknet or anything that is related to it, such as frauds drug use or any other illicit activity. In this forum, there are numerous sections that are clearly about an illegal act such as Fraud Carding, Fraud, Fraud Resources, Counterfeiting, Dark Markets, Fake ID, counterfeit Money, LSD, Drug Manufacture, Malware, Hacking and more.


Every big DNM and every popular type of drug or fraud has its own section. There are also sections for certain countries, currencies and the most popular TOR websites. The only exceptions are pro-terrorism, pedophilia, poisons, weapons and assassinations related subjects are banned. Apart from that, it's full freedom of speech.


The developers of D. Forum are already one of the most prominent vendors in English speaking regions of TOR and enjoy a good reputation. That's why opening R. search could offer the forum a new purpose. To underline the connection to the respected forum, R. search demands you to sign in from D. Forum to sign up on R. search. This is required even in the event that you are a DNM vendor and want to update information about you through R. search. There isn't a specific statement as to whether R. the search engine is able to collect data about searches of users and their preferences. We all know that Google uses search history to profile web users. What is the chance that they D. team can create the same feature, and then determine which users are most interested in which kinds of illegal activities? There may be a myriad of tools to gather more information on Darknet users who want to remain private.

The look is R. search


R. search appears beautiful (in contrast to others Darknet websites) and is user friendly. It has basic filter features such as the minimum and maximum price, shipping country, Darknet Markets. As of the writing of the article R. the search engine indexed 23,7 thousand vendors, 61 thousand listings (that's what we call "offers" for DNM) and 1 million reviews by DNM users. Presently, R. search contains just 6 active DNM and archived information on DNM which are no longer available. It is crucial to know how the new DNMs are added, and who decides about it. D. forum team would like to build a database that includes only reliable DNM suppliers, free of fraud. Of obviously, it's their personal choice as to which DNM are reliable enough to be added to the database, and which are not. Because of this, the group's role in the Darknet information network is becoming more and more significant.


A significant feature is that R. search has in its database also archived data from already closed DNMs. There are markets that operate on Darknet fluctuate between high and low, and vendors are often forced to relocate from one place to another. Their market statistics typically do not show up in the new place and buyers have to trust the words of vendors that they are reliable, trustworthy etc. With R. search, buyers can check the reputation of vendors from the previous DNMs. R. search is an unique type of search engine in which you can identify vendors by their PGP fingerprint or the Public PGP Key2. This is why, when someone claims that they are Mr. X and he had outstanding scores on DNM's that are now dead, you can check whether there is a Mr. X on these dead DNM had the identical PGP Key. PGP Key is the most important way for Darknet users to authenticate themselves.