The dark segment of the Internet, the darknet, began to grow — and the Tor browser only contributed to this, since it provides the user with complete anonymity on the network. Of course, not only journalists and dissidents, but also malefactors began to use this opportunity. More and more black digital markets began to appear.
Transactions on the dark web range from buying drugs to human trafficking. The cyber police constantly monitors the darknet, tracking the appearance of new black marketplaces.
2011 — Ross Ulbricht creates an illegal marketplace Silk Road
One of the largest illegal marketplaces was Silk Road, founded by American Ross Ulbricht.
At the time, Ulbricht was a 26-year-old graduate of Penn State University with a master’s degree in engineering. In the Darknet, he was known by the nickname Dread Pirate Roberts.