Dear Readers,

Enter the world of the Dark Web...

The vast expanse of the digital realm is much like the great oceans of our planet: we’ve explored only a fraction, with fathomless depths still concealed in mystery. Just below the Surface Web, which is the portion we navigate daily, lies the deepest, most enigmatic layer: the Dark Web. It’s a term that often conjures images of shadowy figures, illicit activities, and digital rogues. But is it just that? Or is there more beneath the surface waiting to be discovered?

In this issue of Hakin9 Magazine, we’re delving deep into the recesses of the Dark Web – not meaning to sensationalize, but to educate and inform. Our mission is to demystify the misconceptions, unravel the complexities, and shed light on how cybersecurity is intrinsically tied to this often misunderstood digital underworld. You will find articles on protecting your privacy online and the dual nature of the web.

We’re very proud of this issue and without further ado... Delve in!

Helena Piorun and the Hakin9 Editorial Team

 

Table of contents

Exploring the Dark Web: Unveiling its Dual Nature of Good and Evil

Goce Stevanoski

Freedom of speech is one of the fundamental human rights. It took a long time in human history to be developed to this stage of freedom and openness. With the advancement of the different technologies for communication and information dissemination, much research has had the vision that freedom of speech and open idea sharing will become more and more develope.

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Slicing the Onion: An introduction to the Onion Routing

Christian Barral López

In this article, we will make a superficial technical dive into the protocol that defines what we know today as the Tor network (a.k.a.“The Onion Router”), which is key to understand the security features offered to you as a user, as well as the vulnerabilities to which you may be potentially exposed.

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The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Dilemma

Pranshu Ranakoti

The use of personal mobile devices like smartphones and tablets in the workplace, known as “bring your own device” (BYOD), has become ubiquitous. But this perceived convenience and flexibility comes at a substantial cost — significantly escalated security risks and vulnerabilities for organizations if not managed thoughtfully and deliberately.

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AI and the War on Trust

Arthur Kendrick

Whenever humanity is handed a new and powerful tool, some people will always seek to use it for profit, disruption of existing paradigms and, of course, crime. From deep-fakes that allow you to create porn or embarrassing videos of celebrities (or victims) by simply training a model on their face, or malware that can program itself to avoid detection using LLMs, or enabling life-like chat bots that even the most observant humans have a difficult time detecting, there are ample and deep ways this technology can be abused.

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Cyberattacks with the use of AI

Chirath De Alwis, Umeshika De Seram, Jethendri Wathsala Perera, H.M.H Sanjeewa, Vidusha Shalani

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies are actively used for cyber defense purposes. With the continuous development and decreasing complexity in the implementation of AI-based solutions, the use of AI-based technologies for offensive purposes has begun to appear in the world. In this article, we explore recent cyberattacks using AI-based techniques and identify several mitigation strategies that are useful for handling such attacks.

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Multi-Factor Identification and AI Tools

Chirath De Alwis, Nipuna Manujaya, Mohamed Sinan, Singha Dulain

In the modern world of computers and the internet, where vital information can be shared with a single click, protecting our online identities has become of the uttermost importance. With the constant advancement of technology, the need for comprehensive security measures has grown substantially. Multi-Factor Identification (MFI) has emerged as an effective response.

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Introduction to Defensive and Offensive AI in Cybersecurity

Chirath De Alwis, Sulaksha Punsara, H.A.Neelaka Nilakshana, Chamith Sandaru Bandara, Rusiru Kashmeera

In the ever-changing landscape of cybersecurity, the conflict between criminal actors seeking to exploit vulnerabilities and defenders working on protecting systems and networks has become increasingly complicated. Two formidable forces have emerged in this high-stakes digital arena: defensive and offensive artificial intelligence (AI). These two independent but interconnected branches of AI are at the forefront of determining the future of cybersecurity, each one plays a critical role in improving the digital defenses of enterprises globally.

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How to protect yourself on the deep web: Tools, evaluation, legality and expectations

Ahmad Albek

The deep web can be an unsafe place and navigating it without the proper tools could get you in trouble. Data breaches, file corruptions, hacks, government surveillance or identity and monetary theft are all possibilities to watch out for. Likewise, the legality of the deep web is tied to the expectations that surround it, which are a risk in themselves if not properly managed.

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The Social dangers of the dark web

Ahmad Albek

Using the deep web takes a lot of responsibility, maturity and discipline, as it contains all sorts of malice and hosts all sorts of anti-social and deviant ideas. Whether it be propaganda or harm with intention, deviancy or anything else, the deep web serves consequences not only for one's self but also for the society in general.

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