5 Dark Web Marketplaces Security Professionals Need to Know About

Dark web marketplaces are online platforms, where people can buy and sell illegal goods and services while remaining anonymous. The offerings include leaked credit card details, exploit kits, hackers for hire and advertisements for hitman services.

Because of the range of goods and services available, as well as the conversations that occur around these transactions, dark web marketplaces can be immensely valuable sources of data on criminal activity. As such, they are typically under intense scrutiny from both law enforcement and security professionals.

These marketplaces have become increasingly sophisticated, with slick user interfaces that resemble familiar online storefronts, such as Amazon, along with seller ratings and escrow services for secure payment. This makes the barrier for users lower than ever before.

5 dark web marketplaces

People have been organizing illicit trades via the internet since the 1970s. Those early examples were through closed networks, with actual exchanges of money and goods usually taking place in person. With the advent of cryptocurrencies, it has become easy to complete online trades without leaving a trail. As a result, the online trade of illegal goods has become increasingly commonplace, and vast dark web marketplaces have emerged.

The very first of these marketplaces to pair the darknet with Bitcoin was the Silk Road, created by Ross Ulbricht in February 2011. Over the following two years, the Silk Road set the standard for dark web marketplaces. By the time it was shut down in October 2013, and Ulbricht arrested, the site had traded an estimated $183 million worth of goods and services.

Torzon Market

Torzon is one of the largest general-purpose darknet markets still active in 2025. It offers a familiar mix of narcotics, fraud tools and digital services. The site operates on Tor and supports Bitcoin and Monero, utilising escrow to facilitate transactions. Torzon also imports vendor feedback from other platforms, providing some continuity for buyers and sellers who have migrated after past shutdowns.

STYX Market

STYX has carved out a role as a hub for stolen data rather than drugs. Its listings focus on stealer logs, initial access and financial credentials, making it highly relevant for financial security professionals. Unlike older drug-oriented markets, STYX looks more like a specialized cybercrime exchange than a bazaar.

STYX is a great example of a ‘new model’ market with a searchable structure and trusted vendor processes, which helps buyers quickly filter for fresh data. The market grew through 2023-24 and remains active in 2025, underscoring how access and credentials have become commodities on par with drugs in the dark web economy.

Russian Market

Often written as RussianMarket, this is the largest marketplace for stealer logs. It aggregates credentials, cookies and session data harvested by malware such as RedLine, Raccoon and Vidar, and sells them in bulk. This makes it both a goldmine for attackers seeking account takeovers and a persistent monitoring target for security professionals.

Researchers estimate that millions of logs are for sale, with new ones added daily. Its endurance shows how cybercriminal demand has shifted from physical contraband to stolen identity data. For enterprises, Russian Market illustrates why compromised credentials remain one of the most common entry points for intrusions.

2easy

Sometimes branded 2easy.shop, this site has become known as the budget marketplace for stolen logs. Rather than focusing on premium access, it thrives on low-cost, high-volume sales. Individual log packages are often priced between $5 and $25, making them accessible to a wide spectrum of buyers. 2easy's persistence highlights the democratization of cybercrime. Criminals no longer need large budgets to obtain working credentials, just a few dollars.

BriansClub

BriansClub is a long-running carding shop, best known for selling stolen credit card ‘dumps’ and CVVs. Despite a 2019 breach (and law enforcement action) that exposed millions of its records, the shop has remained active and continues to attract buyers in 2025.

Estimates before the breach suggested a nine-figure annual turnover and, while its exact scale today is harder to verify, it remains one of the most recognisable carding brands.

Other markets include Abacus market, BidenCash, Exploit, Exodus Marketplace and more.

The diffusion of dark web marketplaces

With the rise of encrypted communication apps, such as Telegram and even Discord, some of the trade previously undertaken on the dark web has ‘surfaced’ to the unindexed deep web. Channels such as CrdPro Corner, AsCarding Underground and Daisy Cloud are flourishing on Telegram, with thousands of users in each channel trading everything from logs to bots. These channels often operate as subscription services, providing fresh dumps of material daily.

How to keep track of evolving darknet marketplaces

There are various active dark web marketplaces. One of our data providers estimates there are approximately 20 active, leading dark web marketplaces and dozens of smaller, additional marketplaces. With the diffusion to the unindexed deep web, this number becomes even greater.

Gaining access and monitoring these darknet marketplaces comes with a unique set of challenges. Firstly, they generally have short lifespans. This could be for a variety of reasons. For example, law enforcement might close them down; or, perhaps to help avoid this fate, they frequently change their domain address. It could even be because the admin implemented an exit scam, as happened with Empire Market, where the admin team is estimated to have made off with approximately $30 million worth of Bitcoin in August 2020. Almost none of the marketplaces featured in the 2020 version of this article are in existence now.

Due to this short lifespan, security professionals need to constantly be on the lookout for the next big marketplace. However, because of the illicit nature of the dark web, many websites don’t want to be found; as such, there is no easy way to navigate the dark web. Each website can be thought of as an independent silo. Darknet websites rarely, if ever, link to one another. To find forums and marketplaces on the dark web, as well as in the deep web, you need to know what you’re looking for and how to look for it.

Finally, once the relevant sites have been located and access gained, there is still the serious challenge of monitoring the dark website to gather usable intelligence effectively. Doing this manually requires vast amounts of resources; however, you also can't simply scrape the website, as such activity can quickly get you banned from a site.

This is where Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools like Signal come in.

The role of OSINT tools when monitoring the dark web

OSINT tools allow security professionals to effectively and efficiently monitor the surface, deep and dark web. Using Signal, you can create targeted searches with Boolean logic and run the results through intelligent filters powered by our advanced AI. The process can be automated with real-time SMS and email alerting.

This reduces the need for skilled professionals to spend all their time manually monitoring the entire web and assessing the associated risks. Additionally, it reduces the inherent risk of accessing criminal forums and marketplaces. Instead, security professionals get hyper-relevant alerts that can quickly be assessed and acted upon without ever actually having to go onto the dark web or painstakingly gain access to marketplaces.

This approach is vastly more time-efficient and allows you to put your web monitoring on autopilot; reducing costs, while simultaneously increasing efficacy. As cyber-criminals embrace new technologies, it’s becoming increasingly necessary for security professionals to do the same to stay ahead.

Increase the scope of your monitoring ability and the overall amount of hyper-relevant intelligence at your fingertips. Gather actionable intel in real-time.