Skip to main content
USENIX
  • Conferences
  • Students
Sign in
  • Home
  • Attend
    • Venue, Hotel, and Travel
    • Students and Grants
    • Co-Located Workshops
  • Program
    • At a Glance
    • Technical Sessions
    • Poster Session
  • Activities
    • Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions
    • Poster Session
    • WiPs
  • Participate
    • Call for Papers
      • Important Dates
      • Symposium Organizers
      • Symposium Topics
      • Refereed Papers
      • Shadow PC
      • Symposium Activities
      • Submitting Papers
    • Instructions for Participants
  • Sponsorship
  • About
    • Symposium Organizers
    • Services
    • Questions
    • Help Promote!
    • Past Symposia
  • Home
  • Attend
    • Venue, Hotel, and Travel
    • Students and Grants
    • Co-Located Workshops
  • Program
  • Activities
  • Participate
    • Call for Papers
    • Instructions for Participants
  • Sponsorship
  • About
    • Symposium Organizers
    • Services
    • Questions
    • Help Promote!
    • Past Symposia

sponsors

Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsor
Silver Sponsor
Silver Sponsor
Bronze Sponsor
Bronze Sponsor
General Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Media Sponsor
Industry Partner
Industry Partner

help promote

USENIX Security '16 button

Get more
Help Promote graphics!

connect with usenix


  •  Twitter
  •  Facebook
  •  LinkedIn
  •  Google+
  •  YouTube

twitter

Tweets by USENIXSecurity

usenix conference policies

  • Event Code of Conduct
  • Conference Network Policy
  • Statement on Environmental Responsibility Policy

You are here

Home » Measuring the Longitudinal Evolution of the Online Anonymous Marketplace Ecosystem
Tweet

connect with us

Measuring the Longitudinal Evolution of the Online Anonymous Marketplace Ecosystem

Authors: 

Kyle Soska and Nicolas Christin, Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract: 

February 2011 saw the emergence of Silk Road, the first successful online anonymous marketplace, in which buyers and sellers could transact with anonymity properties far superior to those available in alternative online or offline means of commerce. Business on Silk Road, primarily involving narcotics trafficking, rapidly boomed, and competitors emerged. At the same time, law enforcement did not sit idle, and eventually managed to shut down Silk Road in October 2013 and arrest its operator. Far from causing the demise of this novel form of commerce, the Silk Road take-down spawned an entire, dynamic, online anonymous marketplace ecosystem, which has continued to evolve to this day. This paper presents a long-term measurement analysis of a large portion of this online anonymous marketplace ecosystem, including 16 different marketplaces, over more than two years (2013– 2015). By using long-term measurements, and combining our own data collection with publicly available previous efforts, we offer a detailed understanding of the growth of the online anonymous marketplace ecosystem. We are able to document the evolution of the types of goods being sold, and assess the effect (or lack thereof) of adversarial events, such as law enforcement operations or large-scale frauds, on the overall size of the economy. We also provide insights into how vendors are diversifying and replicating across marketplaces, and how vendor security practices (e.g., PGP adoption) are evolving. These different aspects help us understand how traditional, physical-world criminal activities are developing an online presence, in the same manner traditional commerce diversified online in the 1990s.

Kyle Soska, Carnegie Mellon University

Nicolas Christin, Carnegie Mellon University

Open Access Media

USENIX is committed to Open Access to the research presented at our events. Papers and proceedings are freely available to everyone once the event begins. Any video, audio, and/or slides that are posted after the event are also free and open to everyone. Support USENIX and our commitment to Open Access.

BibTeX
@inproceedings {190886,
author = {Kyle Soska and Nicolas Christin},
title = {Measuring the Longitudinal Evolution of the Online Anonymous Marketplace Ecosystem},
booktitle = {24th USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 15)},
year = {2015},
isbn = {978-1-939133-11-3},
address = {Washington, D.C.},
pages = {33--48},
url = {https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity15/technical-sessions/presentation/soska},
publisher = {USENIX Association},
month = aug
}
Download
Soska PDF
Soska PDF (Updated 8/11/15)
View the slides

Presentation Video 

Presentation Audio

MP3 Download

Download Audio

  • Log in or    Register to post comments

Open access to the USENIX Security '15 videos sponsored by Symantec.

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

General Sponsors

Media Sponsors & Industry Partners

Open Access Publishing Partner

© USENIX

  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us