Dark Web Traffic Analysis of Cybersecurity Threats Through South African Internet Protocol Address Space

Cybersecurity crimes masterminded at dark web pose social security threats global and open a conundrum for researchers in the field of security informatics. Dark web describes a layer beneath deep web on Internet protocol stack that is designed to be concealed from orthodox search engines. The concealment of orthodox search engines has made it extremely hard for law enforcement agencies to track specific websites that pose great cybersecurity threats. This research was supported financially by the BankSeta, Council on Scientific and Industrial Research and National Research Foundation of South Africa to track the malicious use of dark web through South African Internet protocol address space. The study applies the method of dark web crawling using onion router to track traffic with high tendency for cybersecurity threats. The results of crawling experimental indicate that child pornography, sales of spyware, hacking, sales of drugs, planning of violence and sales of dangerous weapons are the frequent malicious use of dark web in South Africa. The outcome of this study can help in creating an accurate revelation of cybersecurity threats to assist law enforcement agencies to combat cybercriminals in the country. © 2020, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.