DarkCyber for December 18, 2018, Now Available

This week’s story line up includes... an informal agreement among Dark Web drug dealers to cut off sales of fentanyl... NSO, a provider of intelware to governments, is back in the news... Devicesavers can unlock any phone for $4,000... and a father and son Dark Web scheme leads directly to five years in prison.

Louisville, Kentucky, US – WEBWIRE – Tuesday, December 18, 2018

CyberOSINT: Next Generation Information Access describes software and systems designed improve the scope and reach of investigations and intelligence operations.

Stephen E Arnold, producer of DarkCyber and author of CyberOSINT: “The idea that Dark Web vendors of contraband are acting in concert to reduce deaths from fentanyl and its analogs suggests that stepped up surveillance may yield more Dark Web enforcement actions. We anticipate that Europol cyber crime unit to move aggressively to curtail the sale of controlled substances and other contraband in 2019.”

DarkCyber for December 18, 2018, is now available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress and on Vimeo at https://www.vimeo.com/306639675 .

The program is a production of Stephen E Arnold. It is the only weekly video news shows focusing on the Dark Web and lesser known Internet services.

This week’s story line up includes… an informal agreement among Dark Web drug dealers to cut off sales of fentanyl… NSO, a provider of intelware to governments, is back in the news… Devicesavers can unlock any phone for $4,000… and a father and son Dark Web scheme leads directly to five years in prison.

First, some Dark Web ecommerce vendors are voluntarily cutting off sales of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. The reason is not going straight. The vendors are wary of stepped up police action in order to take down Dark Web sites selling the potent drug. DarkCyber notes that the actions of Dark Web ecommerce vendors are not likely to curtail the sale of the drug. Vendors move their transactions to encrypted chat sessions or private messaging groups on social media systems. Furthermore China prohibits the manufacture of fentanyl, but not some of its analogs. Stephen E Arnold, producer of DarkCyber and author of CyberOSINT: “The idea that Dark Web vendors of contraband are acting in concert to reduce deaths from fentanyl and its analogs suggests that stepped up surveillance may yield more Dark Web enforcement actions. We anticipate that Europol cyber crime unit to move aggressively to curtail the sale of controlled substances and other contraband in 2019.”

Second, DarkCyber reports that the vendor of software for government agencies is back in the news. Reports link NSO with Saudi Arabia and allege that the Kingdom used NSO’s Pegasus tool to monitor Omar Abdulaziz and the slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Companies like NSO shun the spotlight. Now NSO finds itself allegedly linked to a high profile news story and the subject of increased attention from the Canadian Lab, an independent research group.

The third story reports that Drivesavers has a proprietary method for unlocking iPhones and Android devices. Apple took steps to eliminate a USB vulnerability which some firms were using to unlock iPhones. Drivesavers technique requires the law enforcement send the iPhone to the Drivesavers’ lab, where the phone is unlocked and its data copied to an external storage device. Drivesavers does not provide details about how its method works, but DarkCyber believes the approach is similar to that used by Cellebrite’s mobile device unlocking service. Drivesavers, DarkCyber reports, is listed on the GSA schedule which means US federal agencies can make use of the service with a minimum of bureaucratic

The final story recounts the fate of a father and son duo. The father hit upon the idea of selling his extra doctor prescribed painkillers on the Internet. When that did not work, he enlisted his son for help in setting up a Dark Web business. Federal agents spotted the ads and made an authorized drug buy. The father and son team were arrested and computing devices, text messages, and narcotics were seized. One of the text messages was from a customer who overdosed on the duo’s product. The message, sent from the hospital where the addict was recovering, wanted to set up another drug buy. The father and son team are now serving five years in prison.

DarkCyber is released each week on Tuesday. The next program will be available on December 25, 2018. In 2019, DarkCyber will introduce a Web log covering the stories in the weekly news program plus additional law enforcement related subjects.

About Stephen E Arnold

Stephen E Arnold is the author of “Dark Web Notebook” and “CyberOSINT: Next Generation Information Access.” This book describes some of the technologies used by GSR and Cambridge Analytica to acquire and analyze Facebook user data. He has been named as a technology adviser to the UK based Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Human Trafficking and Child Sex Abuse.” Mr. Arnold also lectures to law enforcement and intelligence professionals who will be attending major law enforcement and intelligence conferences and training programs. In recent months, he has shared his research with law enforcement and intelligence professionals in the US and Europe. His most recent lectures focus on deanonymizing chat and digital currency transactions and the use of smart software for law enforcement and intelligence applications. He publishes the free Web log “Beyond Search,” which is available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress.

( Press Release Image: https://photos.webwire.com/prmedia/45623/232909/232909-1.jpg )