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April 4, 2018by Cybersixgill

Dark Web Sites as a Platform for Hacktivist Warfare

Among other things, the dark web, it seems, also serves as a battlefield for some of the world's conflicts. Underground forums are enabling their users to buy the most sensitive of databases from both private companies and governments, creating an attractive platform for hacktivists whose intention is to cause harm to their enemies.

For example, Cybersixgill has tracked an underground actor who shared at least 3 different “claimed-to-be” highly sensitive databases during the past month alone. By sharing as many databases as possible on an almost daily basis, the user seems to belong to the genre of 'Reputation Builders'. Whether the info has been shared before on not, the actor still earns credit from his fellow forum members.

This actor recently posted a link to a database from a large Turkish real-estate company. The page starts with an #Anonymous label and contains text stating the hacktivist’s demands from Turkey and the US, all related to the war in Syria. The main part of the page is a detailed list of company employees, their phone numbers, email addresses, and other identifying information. Additionally, the actor has shared what seems to be a European country's government database and another country's national security agents' details.

Hacktivists look for darknet and deep web forums where they are able to sell or buy information that will serve their political causes. Having identified the growing trend of these hacktivists to cause harm to their enemies through the publication and dissemination of breached data, a growing number of underground platforms are now dedicating sections on their sites for this purpose.

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