Cybersecurity in Onion Routing Environments: Strategies to Thwart Cyber Threats

Abstract

Onion routing networks, or darknets, enable anonymous communication, protecting user privacy and attracting cybercriminals. This paper analyzes cybercrime in these networks, including drug trafficking, fraud, and hacking. The challenges seen in the detection and mitigation of these crimes arising as the result of strong anonymity and explore countermeasures such as law enforcement, technological solutions, and policy interventions have been discussed, as also highlighting of the limitations of current measures and proposals for future research, with emphasis on the need for interdisciplinary approaches combining technical, legal, and social perspectives.