The document discusses the darknet, also known as the deep web, outlining its history, security concerns, and implications for workplace internet use. It highlights the different types of hackers: white, black, and grey hats, along with the rise of hacktivism, emphasizing the need for education and clear internet policies in organizations. The speaker, Bradley Deacon, shares his background and experience in cyber law, advocating for cybersecurity awareness among staff.

1. Demystifying Cyber
Security: The Darknet
(Deep Web)
1 PD Unit

2. BRADLEY W
DEACON
Session Speaker
Bradley W Deacon
Bradley is a former Federal Agent and was one of the first members of the
Australian Federal Police Computer Crime Unit Sydney where in 1995 his
team was successful in having the first jail sentence imposed on a computer
hacker.
Bradley is a qualified non practising lawyer focussing on the law around
Cyber Space & Social Media with degrees in criminal justice, law, and
postgraduate studies in Criminology and Law. Additionally Bradley has a
Postgraduate Certificate in Distance Ed specialising in Digital Delivery from
Penn State University. Bradley also has a Masters in National Security with
his thesis centred around digital technology: “Evolving Digital Technology
Terrorist Financing & The Threat To U.S National Security”
As a cyber bullying and stalking advocate, Bradley was approached by
VCAT in 2014 to design and facilitate delivery of a social media awareness
package in 2015 for Victorian Court Staff and the Judiciary and was recently
a keynote speaker at the Say No 2 Bullying Conference on the Gold Coast.
Bradley lectures at several Australian Universities and colleges in a variety
of Cyber Law related units and justice units and is about to undertake a PhD
in Social Media by ‘publication’.
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3. Session Outline
Learning Outcomes
• Background of Darknet (DeepWeb)
• Ramifications of staff accessing Darknet
• Cyber security education development
• White Hat, Black Hat & Grey Hat hackers
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4. Background of the Darknet
The Darknet aka Deep Web
• Hidden websites started appearing in 2004
• The TOR network original intention was for
anonymous communication within Military to keep
messages encrypted and secret
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5. Background of the Darknet
The Darknet aka Deep Web
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• TOR stands for the ‘Onion Router’ and will
generally have an extension .onion
• TOR is slow as it bounces around several
‘volunteer’ computers around the world to keep
original location it was sent from and the place it
is going ‘anonymous’

6. Background of the Darknet
Released As Open Source
• In 2004 TOR was as freeware ‘open source’ to the
public
• The .onion extension represents the multiple layers
similar to an onion in that when you cook an onion
you peel off layers
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7. Background of the Darknet
Released As Open Source
• .Onion is used because the websites you are
visiting are deeper and harder to find
• .Onion websites are deeper and harder to find as
they are behind layers of anonymity
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8. Background of the Darknet
Deep Web
• The Deep Web includes many web pages that are
encrypted with passwords or documents in formats
that cannot be indexed
• Therefore, the Darknet is part of the Deep Web, but
the Deep Web is a much broader term than the
Darknet.
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9. Background of the Darknet
Deep Web
• The Darknet has an estimated 200,000 to 400,000
sites, with the exact number impossible to
determine.
• Websites are hosted on servers with hidden
locations through the veil of encryption and virtual
private networks (VPNs).
• As a result, Darknet sites are extremely difficult to
shut down as the location of the administrators is
virtually untraceable.
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10. Background of the Darknet
Released As Open Source
• .Onion is used because the websites you are
visiting are deeper and harder to find
• .Onion websites are deeper and harder to find as
they are behind layers of anonymity
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11. Background of the Darknet
How Safe Is TOR?
● Like any part of the Internet TOR has its security
threats
● YouTube, Facebook, Google, Email all pose a
threat if you do not have good Anti-Virus
● TOR is no different and can be a threat especially if
you click a site/link that is unknown
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12. Background of the Darknet
How Safe Is TOR?
● TOR relies on Peer to Peer reviews and some use
this as an indication to how safe a link is or a
download may be
● EXTREME CAUTION MUST BE USED WHEN
USING TOR
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13. RAMIFICATIONS STAFF ACCESSING
TOR & YOUR STAFF
• TOR is attractive to staff to use
• TOR is well known amongst ‘Digital Natives’ as the
site to download games, movies and TV shows
• Staff need to be educated about TOR
• Your Internet use policy should include a ban on
using TOR or any Virtual Private Network (VPN) in
the workplace
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14. RAMIFICATIONS STAFF ACCESSING
TOR & YOUR STAFF
• Your IT Security Advisor/Provider Should Block
access to TOR and VPN’s
• Ensure you have systems in place to log all
attempts to access TOR and VPN’s
• Ensure Firewalls are installed
• Advise staff of accessing TOR and VPN’s is against
the Firms Internet Use Policy & access attempts are
logged
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15. Education Development
Education Is The Key
• Digital Natives are constantly pushing the Internet
boundary
• Digital Natives want everything yesterday
• Digital Natives generally do not see any issue with
copyright infringement for movies, music and the
like
• Porn is available all over the Internet from desktop
to smartphones with one click
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16. Education Development
Education Is The Key
• The Darknet provides a marketplace for a wide
variety of illegal substances, services, and
communications.
• It is more than just a black market-the Darknet also
houses the most controversial political debates and
sharing of information between dissidents,
journalists, whistleblowers, extremists and trolls.
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17. Education Development
Education Is The Key
• The Darknet via peer group pressure tempts and
lures staff to sites
• Education is paramount and annual reinforcement
is critical
• Case studies need to be provided of where the use
of TOR in the workplace can lead to dismissal
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18. Cyber security education development
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19. The Darket Brings Out The Scammers
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20. The Darket Brings Out The Scammers
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The bravado I have witnessed as one of the
founding Federal Agents in the Computer Crime
Section in the mid 1990's, where we obtained
Australia's first Jail sentence for a computer
'hacker' and now as a Cyber Law educator and
consultant never ceases to amaze me.
Most seem to have this 'untouchable' attitude
where they believe that they have outsmarted law
enforcement and intelligence agencies and large
private sector IT security companies, only to
eventually face the harsh reality that justice almost
always prevails.

21. White, Black & Grey Hat Hackers
Hacker Groups and Sub-Groups
From experience and over the years, I have observed
that hackers fall into three categories or sub-groups:
• White Hats - generally work for security
organisations and are assigned the task of
improving and securing computer services by
identifying and securing security flaws. .
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22. White, Black & Grey Hat Hackers
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Black Hats - are a varied group who use their skills to cause
problems for others and can be motivated by a range of
motivations and skill sets:
Some direct their destructive actions at a targeted company or
group and are often referred to as 'angry hackers'
A less skilled group with lower 'hacking' skills who use hacking
tools to cause mischief for fun aka known as 'script kiddies'
and;
Those that are interested in political and economic upheaval
and view technology as the means to accomplishing a goal
aka 'agenda hackers'

23. White, Black & Grey Hat Hackers
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Grey Hats - are independent security experts and
consultants who are quite often reformed Black Hats.
● Hacking is quite simply 'unauthorised access and
subsequent use of other people's computer systems'
and can be correlated with everyday burglars who
break into a house where in the world of computers it
is a 'computer break in.’
● One must look at how the hacker came about to
committing the hack that defines what type of hacker
they are.

24. Hactivisim
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Over time we have seen another hacking term emerge and
this is 'hacktivism' a term that denotes hacking for a political
or activist purpose where at its worst can even be a 'terrorist
attack'.
It is believed that hacktivism emerged by joining hacking with
activism where the hacking techniques are against a targets
Internet site with the intent of disrupting regular operations
such as web sit-ins, virtual blockades, automated email
bombs, web hacks, computer break ins, computer viruses
and worms.
All of which in legal international and domestic legal
instruments are referred to as 'illegal' or 'unauthorised' access
and interception.

25. Peace of Mind
Have you got the following covered?
A. Workplace Internet Use Policy?
B. Social Media Policy For The Workplace?
C. Social Media Staff/Firm Reputation
Management Training In Place?
D. IT Security Reviews?
E. Have a ‘White Hat’ Hacker test your staff with
‘Phishing’ attempts to see if they open links?
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26. Demystifying Cyber
Security: The Darknet
(Deep Web)
1 PD Unit