The inside story of SA's Dark Net

On sale in SA: Sex, drugs, hitmen and your bank details.

Is the new guy in the office stealing your thunder? Is a politician stressing you out? No problem — hire a hitman, who’ll break bones to specifications — US$3,000 to maim someone, $10,000 to assassinate him. Up to $180,000 if he’s high-profile.

There are other, perhaps more surprising, criminal activities.

• Protect yourself from prying eyes: Tape up your laptop’s webcamCover the webcam on your laptop with a piece of tape or run the risk of being unwittingly filmed with your pants down. 

For example, company officials sell information to traders, which allows them to make a killing by insider trading. (Imagine, for example, what those who knew of Nhlanhla Nene’s sacking weeks in advance could have made?)

While you might think SA is so far behind the digital curve that this is purely of academic interest, many of these services are available in this country. And the Dark Net provides an equally alluring avenue for SA’s crooks to peddle their products — extending their reach globally to make a killing.

• Only five breaches? SA not telling whole hacking story: expertJust five data breaches were were registered in South Africa in 2015 but this figure may not show the whole picture, says digital security services company Gemalto. 

Read the full story of The Dark Net: SA's market place for sin in the Financial Mail.