FTK Over the Air: How the Dark Web Is Fueling the Drug Crisis

"The Dark Web." The name evokes a spooky underworld, the digital equivalent of late 70's Times Square: seedy, dirty, a marketplace for people's darker impulses. 

In some ways, that's an accurate description. The dark web refers to a collection of websites and online content that are not indexed by search engines and are only accessible using special software that allows users to remain anonymous and untraceable. It's often used for illegal activities such as buying and selling drugs, weapons, stolen data, and other illicit goods and services--but it also offers people who wish to remain anonymous, including political activists, journalists, and whistleblowers, a way to communicate with each other. 

But it's also a highly sophisticated, technical achievement--and that's where digital forensics expertise comes into play. To combat the illegal activities that occur on the dark web, we need technologically savvy people to engage with the activity that goes on there--and unfortunately that can be a difficult task. 

In the latest episode of FTK Over the Air, Justin and Lynne are joined by Keven Hendricks, founder of the Ubivis Project, a website dedicated to combating the “dark web” narcotics trade poisoning our communities. Unfortunately, it's pretty easy to access the dark web anonymously, so teenagers and adults are heading there to buy illegal drugs. While many of them run the risk of overdosing and dying, law enforcement is not doing enough to investigate and shut dealers down. Check out this episode, How the Dark Web Is Fueling the Drug Crisis, to learn how Keven is trying to expose the risks of these dark web drug marketplaces and shut them down.