What’s up with the emergence of all these hectically illegal sites that sell drugs, show live murders and sell the services of hitmen? Sure, the authorities can check our Facebook photos and determine what we like and then customise adverts just for us – but how long have these sites been available while the authorities have been perving our profiles?

“Hitman Network” is a site that hires out three hitmen who are willing to kill anyone who isn’t under 16 or a major politician (nice morals there – what about a 17 year-old disabled chap, that’s a-okay?). What’s more, these guys won’t do it for real cash. Nah – they want bitcoins.

You can only access the site from an anonymous router, but once there, Hitman Network serves as an entry point to what people are calling “The Dark Web” – where  criminals sell and purchase everything from stolen credit card numbers to black tar heroin (which just sounds like really super-hectic heroin).

The thing that all these “dark” sites have in common is thier use of bitcoins – an anonymous currency invented in 2009. Raj Samani, McAfee’s (that internet security software that always needs updating) chief technology officer, said in a recent interview:

The level of anonymity criminals believe they have is driving more traditional crime over to the Internet.

In truth though, authorities are beginning to clamp down on these guys, with the FBI arresting the founder of the website Silk Road, which was used to sell drugs for bitcoins.

So maybe bitcoins are not as untraceable as we all originally thought. But one thing is for sure, as the security checks tighten, crooks are gonna get better at this stuff.

[Source : The Daily Beast]