System for Combating Crime on the Dark Web

The cryptographic and anonymity features of the Dark Web create severe difficulties for law enforcement agencies to investigate, monitor, control, prosecute, and prevent a range of criminal events. This chapter describes the steps for developing an efficient system for preventing/mitigating crime on the Dark Web. The system could be utilized as a real-life paradigm by law enforcement, cybersecurity researchers, and local police agencies that will help them to study and combat crimes on the Dark Web.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• Problem identification
• Problem handling
• The feasibility of creating a universal system
• Steps to creating a system
• Final system proposal
• Centralized system design—International Data Hub (IDH)

Problem identification

Through the extensive literature examination, several problems regarding efforts of combating crimes on the Dark Web have been identified. Currently, there are numerous entities/tools/methods that are used to combat these kinds of crimes, such as the MEMEX project, traffic confirmation attacks, Oracle’s advanced technology, and so on. However, all these entities are not succinctly in line with one another. This means that entity A may have different information than entity B and entity C. There is a lack of a consolidated platform where investigators can put all this information together, process it, and interact with it. Another significant issue is the lack of real-time insights. This kind of insight can help investigators to visualize data and take prompt actions to help crime victims. Based on all the aforementioned, this research has concluded that the ultimate goal of the system is the following:

• Preventing Dark Web-related crimes
• Prompt...

Problem handling

The system aims to create a fully integrated platform to face the problem of crimes on the Dark Web. A way to handle the problem is prevention, across and throughout all industries, building communities resilient to crimes. Taking the decentralized databases and forcing them into a single source of an independent database can be a significant step forward. This provides one centralized, secure place for all data. The system’s purpose is to develop a platform that gets real-time information and then, by using advanced cloud software, integrate this information into an autonomous data warehouse. Through radical information sharing and collaboration, the system aims to build a global picture of crime hotspots/trends and empower individuals, organizations, and law enforcement agencies in making more informed decisions.

The feasibility of creating a universal system

The analysis of the literature suggests that the current methods of combating crimes on the Dark Web are not adequate for the needs of digital forensics’ fast-paced and quick-changing environment. One of the most significant problems of modern law enforcement investigations is that they lack adequate efficiency. This is evidenced by the fact that this kind of crime continues to be a very serious problem for societies all over the world. To maintain a reliable forensic platform, it is necessary to figure out the problem or area of opportunity. This is where systems come in—they help to comprehend the problem in a new way. Before prototyping, testing, and launching, the problem should be framed in an approachable way (Conley, 2016).

The digital forensics field has been expanding dramatically and continues to advance quickly. The challenge with the system aiming to propose is to present evidence with a reliable method in...

Steps to creating a system

This research has concluded that prevention may be more effective than investigating individual crime incidents themselves. This can be achieved by creating an international database/system to facilitate information sharing (across all industries and sectors) about crimes on the Dark Web. This international system aims to partner with various organizations and agencies, including financial institutions, international law enforcement, non-governmental agencies, the UN, local and federal police authorities, the public, and many others.

By using advanced cognitive technologies, the proposed centralized system will focus on facilitating information sharing easily and quickly and combining several datasets in one secure database. Additionally, artificial intelligence (AI) can play a significant role and help to analyze and process large volumes of data quickly, while ensuring the data’s security and integrity. Additionally, predictive policing can look...

Final system proposal

The previous sections outlined several important factors to consider when creating a digital forensics system. The aim of this section is to merge all the aforementioned to compile a reasonably complete platform. All the entities/tools/methods/techniques mentioned in earlier sections will be incorporated into this system. The system’s goal is to establish a clear picture of the steps that should be followed when investigating Dark Web crime cases. The proposed system is scalable and can be easily expanded in the future, and include any necessary additional phases.

Police and community stakeholders must cooperate effectively by delegating tasks, allocating resources, and making decisions jointly. Therefore, collaboration entails coordinated actions with shared responsibility and decision-making rather than just outreach or information sharing. Addressing a problem demands proactive cooperation between the police and the community in order to uncover...

Centralized system design – IDH

The following points provide a list of items that anti-crime law enforcement should consider when developing an information-sharing system. This list can be used as an advanced guide for the development of a robust and reliable system. While it is not compulsory to include all items, it is essential that law enforcement members discuss and agree on what must be included and what not. The following is a list of what is needed for the IDH:

• Introduction to the IDH:
  • The rationale for the information-sharing system
  • Individuals who helped in designing the system (including representatives from the private sector, law enforcement, prosecution, and trafficking victims’ support services)
  • Schedule periodic updates and reviews of the system
• Specific information to be shared in the IDH:
  • Where the information is being stored at the moment. (For example, is the information safely maintained in a specific database?)
  • Trafficking the victim’...

Summary

In the last few decades, pressure on organizations to maintain robust internal controls has increased dramatically. Audit committees, stakeholders, and boards are expecting management to provide not only transparency and accountability over internal controls but also real-time updates on their effectiveness. Additionally, with an ever-changing regulatory environment, increased remote working, and greater operational complexity, more pressure is put on already stretched management teams. Control hubs/central platforms have been designed to help alleviate this burden (Chambers, 2021). The next chapter provides a conclusion to the overall research.