The document discusses the emergence and components of the "darknet", which refers to technologies that allow for anonymous use of the internet by avoiding personal identification. It outlines various darknet technologies like Tor, VPNs, encryption tools, cryptocurrencies and secure hardware. It also discusses how the darknet is used for both legal and illegal purposes, and why some people choose to use it given declining personal privacy elsewhere. Finally, it explores how darknet capabilities may continue to evolve and how adoption of such technologies could help defend critical institutions and democratic processes by enabling secure and anonymous communications.

1. March 9, 2014
The darknet emerges
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4. Darknet: The spaces and
technologies used avoid
personal identification on the
internet.

5. Components of the current darknet
• Tor / Onion routing
• VPNs of all types
• PGP and encryption: Email, chat, whole disk, etc.
• Bitcoin et al: pseudonymous crypto-currencies
• Secure hardware environments: Linux and open source
software, non Intel / AMD processors
• Encrypted, distributed virtual hosting (think Pirate Bay)
• Generally speaking: Distributed, P2P, non-centralized
software infrastructure
• Real-world OpSec: Keeping quiet

6. The Darknet in the news.
• Drugs (Silk Road)
• Wikileaks
• Anonymous / Hacktivism
• Civil disobedience
• Murder / extortion for hire
• Weapons
• Personal / private information
• Software, botnet, or exploit marketplaces

7. So why would anybody want to
be there?

9. “A mill for grinding rouges honest”
-Jeremy Bentham

10. The decline of physical privacy.

12. Generally speaking decent people.

13. The opportunities for abuse of the
panopticon are immense.

14. “Power corrupts. Absolute power
corrupts absolutely.”
-­‐Lord
Acton,
1887

15. Blackmail.

16. Trading on personal information.

17. Exposure of unpopular / private
beliefs or activities.

18. As ‘real world’
privacy
disappears, digital
privacy will grow.

19. The birth of digital
schizophrenia.

20. SecDent

21. End-to-end encryption is just an app
away.

22. Commercializing privacy.
• Silent Circle
• Anonyme
• Snapchat
• Secret
• Meshnet hardware / software
• Anonymous local area networks

23. Emerging darknet capabilities.
• Distributed platforms to enable contracts between
anonymous SecDents
• Anonymous multi-signature escrow accounts to
allow for bonded transactions
• SecDent ownership of real-world assets
• Anonymous, multi-hop delivery services and
dropboxes

24. • Encrypted
communications
• Secure computing
environment
• Bitcoin wallets
• Whole-disk encryption
• SecDents / handles
• Low-risk political and
social speech

25. "The Personal is Political”
-Carol Hanisch

26. Defense of critical
institutions and
democratic processes
will require adoption of
darknet elements.

27. Questions…

28. hugeinc.com
info@hugeinc.com
45 Main St. #220 Brooklyn, NY 11201
+1 718 625 4843