By: Kylie Foy
May 14, 2019
To match users from different forums who are likely the same person, an algorithm calculates similarities in profiles, such as their usernames; in content, such as similar phrasings; and in their network, such as the community with which they interact. Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Beneath the surface web, the public form of the internet you use daily to check email or read news articles, exists a concealed “dark web.” Host to anonymous, password-protected sites, the dark web is where criminal marketplaces thrive in the advertising and selling of weapons, drugs, and trafficked persons. Law enforcement agencies work continuously to stop these activities, but the challenges they face in investigating and prosecuting the real-world people behind the users who post on these sites are tremendous.