Graph Theoretic Properties of the Darkweb
This study provides insights into the structure of the darkweb, which is important for cybersecurity and network researchers, though it is incremental as it builds on prior web graph analyses.
The researchers analyzed the darkweb hyperlink graph and found it highly dissimilar to the world wide web, with over 87% of sites never linking to others, suggesting it is more like isolated silos than a connected web.
We collect and analyze the darkweb (a.k.a. the "onionweb") hyperlink graph. We find properties highly dissimilar to the well-studied world wide web hyperlink graph; for example, our analysis finds that >87% of darkweb sites never link to another site. We compare our results to prior work on world-wide-web and speculate about reasons for their differences. We conclude that in the term "darkweb", the word "web" is a connectivity misnomer. Instead, it is more accurate to view the darkweb as a set of largely isolated dark silos.