Dark Web forum activity grew 44% during the spring of 2020 compared with baseline numbers in January, researchers learned in a new analysis of COVID-19's effects on underground forums.
A team at cybersecurity company Sixgill analyzed five underground forums, chosen for their high volume of posts, low barrier to entry, and prominence, to investigate their user count and activity. At their peak, these forums had a combined total of 268,610 unique monthly users – up from 82,421 in January. Their compounded monthly growth rate ranged from 1% to 9.2%.
While the growth can be explained by the increase in people sitting inside with the lack of other things to do, Sixgill security research lead Dov Lerner was surprised by the jump in activity. One site's growth did not hinder another's, a sign that participation on the Dark Web is growing.
"Everyone's stuck at home; people are bored and looking for something to do … I would have guessed that the number of [Dark Web] actors would rise as well," he says. "I did not expect it to rise 44%. That number really stood out as something very, very striking."
Earlier Sixgill reports detected an uptick in specific types of cybercrime on the Dark Web during the same spring 2020 timeframe, including the sale of gaming store accounts, compromised Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) credentials, money laundering services, and narcotics.
The Forums
The forums are identified in the report as Forums A, B, C, D, and E. Researchers chose to not name the specific forums but say they are "extremely popular" and specifically focused on cybercrime. Four of the forums were English-speaking; one was Russian. While Russian is a prominen ..
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