The infamous case of Chloe Ayling, who was kidnapped and put up for sale on the dark web, is a stark example. In addition to human trafficking, ransomware groups exploit the dark web to leverage personal data for blackmail, demanding payment to prevent the release of sensitive information.
An anonymous hacker, speaking to VICE, recounted his transformation from a ‘black hat’ hacker, who acts without ethical constraints and often with malicious intent, to a ‘white hat’ hacker, who operates within an ethical framework. He now focuses on “hunting the criminals who are targeting hospitals or who are targeting the businesses that I’m looking out for.”
Recalling some of the most unsettling incidents, he described seeing hospitals being hit by ransomware. “I’ve watched hospitals get encrypted. People are left with a choice: do I pay to decrypt the data or risk lives?” he shared.
By 2021, ransomware had emerged as a significant concern for him, with a notable rise in such attacks due to their lucrative nature. Discussing the dark web’s ‘high stakes games,’ he explained that ransomware can have national implications.
“You have national state actors who are doing what they need to do because the nation state that they’re employed by wants them to do it,” he mentioned.
He further elaborated: “There are financially motivated criminals who are looking for whatever way they can cash out, [and] there are some people who just want to see the world burn.”
“Those are destructive hackers who will just go after systems because they just want to cause disruption,” he added, highlighting the potential for these attacks to become a tool of asymmetrical warfare.
He also noted that ‘pretty much all western governments’ have sought assistance from the white hat hacker community.