Russia Takes First Place in the “Darkweb Medal Table”

It’s no secret that the so-called “big boy countries” set global trends and hold significant influence. Their power and dominance are rarely questioned. It’s also well known that the most powerful nations are deeply involved in the creation, support, and development of the dark web. Who are these countries? The answer is clear: Russia, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

The Darkweb Medal Table Ranking

In recent years, many cybersecurity companies have conducted research to determine the causes of the dark web’s growth and which countries have the greatest impact on its expansion. RepKnight, a cybersecurity firm well-versed in the darker side of the internet, has finally provided evidence of which countries are most involved in the dark web.

The company published an alternative “medal table” based on the most common national top-level domains (TLDs) found in email addresses used to register on dark web sites and appearing in forum discussions. Unsurprisingly, Russian domains are the most frequently encountered.

Russia

Russia, a country often at the center of heated geopolitical debates and labeled as “the worst,” “aggressive,” or “underdeveloped,” certainly didn’t disappoint when it comes to the dark side of the internet. The .ru domain topped the ranking, earning 8 gold medals, 3 silver, and 2 bronze. Quite an Olympic performance, isn’t it?

The European Union

Germany, another well-known player in the dark web scene, took second place in the medal count. Despite the country’s repeated efforts to combat the dark web, the situation hasn’t changed much, and the expected results have yet to be achieved. (Editor’s note: This refers to numerous operations to shut down dark web forums and marketplaces.)

Another European country, France, which impressed many with its results at the 2018 Winter Olympics, also performed well here, taking third place in the Darkweb Medal Table.

The list is dominated by European countries: the Czech Republic is in 9th place, Italy in 11th, Sweden in 12th, and the United Kingdom in 10th. This result may surprise many in the UK, as the country recently saw a wave of arrests and the closure of several dark web forums. (Editor’s note: The source, DeepDotWeb, has recently published a lot of information about the arrests of drug dealers and customers of dark web drug markets.)

Despite these efforts, the UK remains the European country with the highest volume of online drug trade. The market is estimated at around £16 million per month, which is about 18-20% of the EU’s total drug market. The average income of a British dark web dealer is estimated at £5,000-6,000 per month.

Norway took the last place in the medal count.

The United States

The United States is a major “powerhouse” when it comes to the dark web, but it only ranked 9th in the medal table—a surprising result for Americans. Why? In recent years, the country has been overwhelmed by synthetic opioid drugs sold through the dark web. There is almost an epidemic among certain segments of the population.

Conclusion

RepKnight analyzed about 7.5 million email addresses. Typical .com and .net domains accounted for about 70% of the identified data, so the study’s results are based on the remaining 30%.

After the survey, RepKnight cybersecurity analyst Patrick Martin stated:

“The dark web is a rapidly growing threat to businesses worldwide. While we don’t plan to hand out any awards to the ‘winners’ of our alternative medal table, it certainly provides a clearer picture of which countries are becoming targets for cybercriminals.”

By the way, you can view the full Olympic-style medal table here.