A Real World Look at Investigations in the Dark Web

This course is designed for investigator to understand where to start their Darknet investigations and how to operate in this new environment. Investigators engaged in online investigations of any kind and those using open source (OSINT) analytics, will benefit greatly from this course. Crime analysts, National security investigators, crimes against children investigators, and drug investigators will especially benefit.

This is an advanced level course presented from an investigators point of view. Those with a non-technical background will also benefit from the material presented.

The content of this unique course is not offered anywhere else. The course material is supported by real world examples and incidents. This is not a general lecture course. This course will provide the student with the understanding of how to accomplish effective investigations of Darknet sites and users. The course will allow investigators to step up their investigative skills to meet the new challenges offered by the anonymity of the Darknet.

Course Modules:

Understanding what the Darknet really is can be a challenge.  The technology behind the Darknet is not a single program or location. This session will explore what the Darknet is and how it differs from the Deep web.

Setting up and using Tor may in itself be easy but finding what you want on the Tor network can be a challenge. This session will look at the Tor network how it works and methods for using it during an investigation.

New to investigations involving bitcoin? Need to understand how to track the funds through various cryptocurrencies?  How do wallets work and is there any evidence I can use when I find one? This session will provide you with the ability to understand and deal with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies during you investigations.

Darknet investigations require the use of a persona like any other investigation. It also requires that you understand the equipment you are using, and practice online officer safety techniques specialized for online/Darknet investigations. This session will look at the requirements and investigator have, equipment and persona background specializing in Darknet investigations.

This block looks at some of the other Darknet tools available on the Internet, how to access them and how to find evidence of criminal activity.

Anonymous networks are intentionally designed to hide users. Are there legally available methods which we can implement to identify anonymous users on the Internet? The answer is definitely yes.  The attendees will learn techniques to locate targets online through the use of various code. The attendees will actually build tools to assist in an investigation. The potential legal issues when implementing these techniques will also be discussed.

This block exposes the investigator to the use of Meta Data in files. How tracking duplicates, the sources uploading, revealing Exif data in images and other identifiers used to establish device location, source, and tracking.  How Hashing and searching can identify additional actionable intelligence or investigative leads.

Non attributable SN profile and legend building, tradecraft, and good digital hygiene around this area.