All Things Vice

Last updated
All Things Vice
Type of site
Blog
Founded2012
Created byEileen Ormsby
Founder(s) Eileen Ormsby

All Things Vice is a blog that was started in 2012 by Australian author and journalist Eileen Ormsby about news in the dark web. Since her investigations into the Silk Road in 2012, [1] the darknet market led her to blog [2] about various happenings in the dark web and two books, Silk Road (2014) [3] and The Darkest Web (2018). [4] [5]

Ormsby is a former Australian lawyer living in Melbourne. Sought for comment, [6] [7] Ormsby has written, [8] [9] been interviewed and cited on dark web, 419 scams, [10] bitcoin and darknet market issues. [11] She has obtained a number of exclusive interviews [12] from individuals involved in the dark web. She was cited in the trial of drug dealer Paul Leslie Howard that he discovered the Silk Road market after reading the coverage on her site. [13] [14] She also regularly writes scripts for Casefile True Crime Podcast , including some about the dark web. [15]

Ormsby has appeared on and consulted to TV shows and documentaries about the dark web [16] , including CBS 48 Hours "Click for a Killer" (2018) [17] , Channel 4 UK's "How to Hire a Hitman" [18] and Oxygen TV's "The Dark Web: Fraud and Murder in the Digital Underground" [19]

Related Research Articles

A dark net or darknet is an overlay network within the Internet that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization, and often uses a unique customized communication protocol. Two typical darknet types are social networks, and anonymity proxy networks such as Tor via an anonymized series of connections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silk Road (marketplace)</span> 2011–2014 darknet market known for the sale of illegal drugs

Silk Road was an online black market and the first modern darknet market. It was launched in 2011 by its American founder Ross Ulbricht under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts". As part of the dark web, Silk Road operated as a hidden service on the Tor network, allowing users to buy and sell products and services between each other anonymously. All transactions were conducted with bitcoin, a cryptocurrency which aided in protecting user identities. The website was known for its illegal drug marketplace, among other illegal and legal product listings. Between February 2011 and July 2013, the site facilitated sales amounting to 9,519,664 Bitcoins.

The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets: overlay networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communicate and conduct business anonymously without divulging identifying information, such as a user's location. The dark web forms a small part of the deep web, the part of the web not indexed by web search engines, although sometimes the term deep web is mistakenly used to refer specifically to the dark web.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Ulbricht</span> American founder of the Silk Road website

Ross William Ulbricht is an American serving life imprisonment for creating and operating the darknet market website Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. The site operated as a hidden service on the Tor network and facilitated the sale of narcotics and other illegal products and services. Ulbricht ran the site under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts", after the fictional character from The Princess Bride.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Onymous</span> International police operation targeting darknet markets

Operation Onymous was an international law enforcement operation targeting darknet markets and other hidden services operating on the Tor network.

Agora was a darknet market operating in the Tor network, launched in 2013 and shut down in August 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution (marketplace)</span> Former darknet market

Evolution was a darknet market operating on the Tor network. The site was founded by an individual known as 'Verto' who also founded the now defunct Tor Carding Forum. Evolution was active between 14 January 2014 and mid March 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AlphaBay</span> Defunct darknet marketplace

AlphaBay was a darknet market operating at different times between September 2014 and February 2023. At times, it was both an onion service on the Tor network and an I2P node on I2P. After it was shut down in July 2017 following law enforcement action in the United States, Canada, and Thailand as part of Operation Bayonet, it was relaunched in August 2021 by the self-described co-founder and security administrator DeSnake. The alleged original founder, Alexandre Cazes, a Canadian citizen born on 19 October 1991, was found dead in his cell in Thailand several days after his arrest, with police suspecting suicide.

A darknet market is a commercial website on the dark web that operates via darknets such as Tor and I2P. They function primarily as black markets, selling or brokering transactions involving drugs, cyber-arms, weapons, counterfeit currency, stolen credit card details, forged documents, unlicensed pharmaceuticals, steroids, and other illicit goods as well as the sale of legal products. In December 2014, a study by Gareth Owen from the University of Portsmouth suggested the second most popular sites on Tor were darknet markets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utopia (marketplace)</span>

Utopia was a darknet market similar to The Silk Road that facilitated sale of illegal items such as narcotics, firearms, stolen bank account information and forged identity documents. Utopia was based on Black Market Reloaded and has ties to it.

DeepDotWeb was a news site dedicated to events in and surrounding the dark web featuring interviews and reviews about darknet markets, Tor hidden services, privacy, bitcoin, and related news. The website was seized on May 7, 2019, during an investigation into the owners' affiliate marketing model, in which they received money for posting links to certain darknet markets, and for which they were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. In March 2021 site administrator Tal Prihar pleaded guilty to his charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Grams is a discontinued search engine for Tor based darknet markets launched in April 2014, and closed in December 2017. The service allowed users to search multiple darknet markets for products like drugs and guns from a simple search interface, and also provided the capability for its users to hide their transactions through its bitcoin tumbler Helix.

The Hub was a discussion forum on Tor hidden services on the dark web focused on darknet market reviews, cryptocurrency and security.

Atlantis was a darknet market founded in March 2013, the third such type of market, concurrent with The Silk Road and Black Market Reloaded. It was the first market to accept Litecoin.

The Russian Anonymous Marketplace or RAMP was a Russian language forum with users selling a variety of drugs on the Dark Web.

The Tor Carding Forum (TCF) was a Tor-based forum specializing in the trade of stolen credit card details, identity theft and currency counterfeiting. The site was founded by an individual known as 'Verto' who also founded the now defunct Evolution darknet market.

Variety Jones and Smedley (Smed) Charger are pseudonyms of individuals reported to have been closely involved with the founding of the darknet market Silk Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dream Market</span> Online black market

Dream Market was an online darknet market founded in late 2013. Dream Market operated on a hidden service of the Tor network, allowing online users to browse anonymously and securely while avoiding potential monitoring of traffic. The marketplace sold a variety of content, including drugs, stolen data, and counterfeit consumer goods, all using cryptocurrency. Dream provided an escrow service, with disputes handled by staff. The market also had accompanying forums, hosted on a different URL, where buyers, vendors, and other members of the community could interact. It is one of the longest running darknet markets.

Hydra was a Russian language dark web marketplace, founded in 2015, that facilitated trafficking of illegal drugs, financial services including cryptocurrency tumbling for money laundering, exchange services between cryptocurrency and Russian rubles, and the sale of falsified documents and hacking services. On April 5, 2022, American and German federal government law enforcement agencies announced the seizure of the website's Germany-based servers and cryptocurrency assets. Before its closure, it had been the longest-running dark web marketplace. The United States Department of Justice has indicted one Russian man for his role in running the servers for the website.

Operation SpecTor was an operation coordinated by Europol, which involved nine countries, including the United States, Austria, France, Germany, and the Netherlands to disrupt fentanyl and opioid distribution. The operation targeted and took down the darknet market "Monopoly Market."

References

  1. Ormsby, Eileen (2012-04-26). "The drug's in the mail". The Age. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  2. "All Things Vice". Eileen Ormsby. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  3. Ormsby, Eileen (2014). Silk Road. Macmillan Australia. ISBN   9781742614090.
  4. Bri Lee. "The Darkest Web: exploring the ugly world of illegal online marketplaces". The Guardian, 21 Mar 2018.
  5. Ormsby, Eileen (2019). The Darkest Web: Drugs, Death and Destroyed Lives ... the Inside Story of the Internet's Evil Twin. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN   978-1-76087-562-6.
  6. Foxton, Willard (4 October 2013). "If Silk Road Was A Legitimate Startup, It Would Be Worth ~ $2.4 Billion". Business Insider. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  7. Monks, Kieron (1 May 2013). "Battlefield Dark Web: Drugs, assassins and bank fraud for sale on the 'other Internet'". Metro World News. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  8. Ormsby, Eileen (20 October 2014). "Fernando Caudevilla: Spanish doctor advises drug users on the dark web's Silk Road". The Age. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  9. Ormsby, Eileen (2012-12-03). "Dancing with Molly". The Age. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  10. Ormsby, Eileen (18 July 2012). "From Nigeria with love". The Age. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  11. "Dark net marketplace Silk Road 'back online'". BBC News. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  12. Chen, Adrian (28 September 2013). "How a Social Media Guy Took an Underground Drug Market Viral". Gawker. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  13. Solon, Olivia (3 February 2013). "Police crack down on Silk Road following first drug dealer conviction". ArsTechnica. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  14. Nast, Condé. "Police crack down on Silk Road following first drug dealer conviction". Wired UK. ISSN   1357-0978 . Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  15. "Episodes written by Eileen Ormsby". Casefile: True Crime Podcast. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  16. "Speaking & Consulting". Eileen Ormsby. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  17. Sant, Peter Van (2018-09-29). ""48 Hours" disrupts alleged dark web hitmen in potential murder-for-hire plots - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  18. "Watch How to Hire a Hitman | Stream free on Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  19. "THE DARK WEB: Fraud and Murder in the Digital Underground". Oxygen Official Site. 2023-06-05. Retrieved 2024-02-20.