Friday, September 11, 2020

I Was a Child Soldier

                                                                    





                                                                    I Was a Child Soldier

Jennifer Barnard

   Wilmington University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Abstract

 

This is a fictional story about a kidnapped child that was forced to be a child soldier for ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). The information is based on real events that happened during the ruling of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and timelines and curriculum were taken by actual accounts from the Islamic state survivors. This article is meant to bring awareness regarding modern-day slavery and its devastation among the victims involved.

 

I Was a Child Soldier

 

My name is Misha Hassan; I am a Yezidi from Northern Iraq. I was nine years old when the Islamic Caliphate, known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), invaded my home. The Islamic State brutally killed my father and brothers as I watched. I will never forget watching my father and brothers with fear as they were on their knees, pleading for their lives before being shot execution-style. At the time, I did not really understand what was happening and who those monsters were.   My mother and sisters were taken and told that they would become the brides of caliphate fighters. Being kidnapped, witnessing, my dad and brothers die, and watching my mom and sisters be taken was the beginning of my nightmare.

After I was separated from my mother and sisters, I began my journey to Syria. I was in a truck with other children at gunpoint with these men ranting about something called the caliphate and being at war with the infidels. I didn't understand what they were talking about; I was terrified and wondered where they were taking my survived family.  I had no idea where they were taking me and pondered if they would kill me next. During the drive, I replayed my father and brother's murder in my head several times, still unsure what happened and what they did to deserve this brutal death.

I arrived in Syria later that day, and to my surprise, there were hundreds of young boys such as myself at a place that seemed like a camp. It seemed as though the ages of the boys were between six and seventeen.  ISIS called the boys at the base "Cubs of the caliphate" (Grimley,2017). This camp was set up like a military camp. There were lots of guns, barb wire, and training equipment all over the place. I watched as boys were going through hard physical training as if they were preparing for war. All of the boys had rifles on their shoulders, and some were even shooting the rifles (Mahmood, 2016). I found this camp to be strange. However, I figured if I made it to the base that at least I wasn't going to die.

The next day I was woken up early and told that I was to confess my sins as an infidel. You see, I did not hold the same beliefs as ISIS. I was a Yezidi Christian, which is the enemy of ISIS. I was told that I must convert to Islam and leave the devil. I was given the Koran and the IS textbook, which I was required to read and memorize; if we got the information wrong, we were beaten with cables (Welle, n.d.). I was handed a rifle and told that I would not take it off my shoulder; if I did, there would be severe consequences (Mahmood, 2016). After Morning prayers came the physical training of being a soldier. I was informed that I was training to become a soldier for Allah through the caliphate and that my job would be to kill the infidels. I was forced to walk on burning hot sand from the sun and was told that we were at war, so I needed to endure pain (Grimley, 2017).

I watched around me as children were target practicing. To my surprise, they were shooting dead bodies in the head. The bodies' stench was horrible; after shooting the dead bodies in the head, the children would then behead them and yell Allah (Welle, n.d.). I also watched as some kids were training to be suicide bombers. ISIS would teach them how to create a bomb and put it on the vest. They told the children that once the vest blew up, they would be martyrs, and their family would be taken care of for eternity. I prayed to God that I would not be one of the chosen to be a suicide bomber. I didn't believe the doctrine that was being forced upon me and was only doing what I was told to survive.

After our physical training, which included going under barb wire and hand to hand combat, we were forced to watch gruesome propaganda videos of beheadings and murders (Dozier, 2019). The videos were about how ISIS was going to take over the world, followed by violent graphic videos of beheadings on the beach and massacres throughout different Iraq areas. I would try not to watch the video, but if I was caught turning my head, I would be beaten by one of the men in charge. I was told that I was a soldier of Allah and that I would have to perform these acts. At nighttime, we were put on a night watch. We were not allowed to sleep, and if we dozed off during our watch, not only would we have water thrown on us, but we would be beaten (Grimley, 2017). Often it was hard to stay awake during those hours as the caliphate pushed us hard during the day. It would just be a matter of time before I was sent out to fight with the caliphate, and honestly, I was not ready to die for the cause.

As time progressed, I started interacting with the boys throughout the camp. Surprisingly I found out that some of the boys volunteered to be part of the caliphate. Then there were the boys who were sold by their families or kidnapped. The boys that volunteered were able to visit their family on the weekend. What I would do to be with my family, to hug and kiss them one more time. However, I was kidnapped and was there against my will, so seeing my family was out of the question. I found out that the boys that volunteered made a monthly income of $100 USD (Mahmood, 2016). Once again, because I was taken against my will, I was not paid anything, I suppose I should have been happy that I was still alive. However, what was the quality of life? Was it even worth living?  I didn't want to fight in a war. I wanted to go to school and be with my family.

Several months went by with the continuous mundane propaganda; all I ever did was train, pray, and fight. There were times that the caliphate took us to the river to swim. However, we would always be part of a video talking about how the caliphate would take over the world, followed by an execution. One day we went to the river, and I actually had fun swimming. I forgot about my circumstances for a few minutes. The caliphate started their video, they had two men tied up next to them on their knees. The men were crying. I felt so bad for them as I knew their fate. One of the caliphate members called me up to them and put a gun in my hand, and told me to stand behind one of the men. I knew what I was expected to do. My hands were shaking as I did not want to take another person's life. I was given the command to shoot him in the back of the head, so I did (Welle, n.d.). If I didn't take that's man's life, it would have been mine, or I would have been severely beaten and called an infidel. I had flashbacks of my brother and father's execution, and I started to cry. The caliphate beat me anyways because I cried, which made me less than a man.

After being forced to murder someone, I decided it was time to escape. I could no longer live this life of killing innocent people for a reason I did not believe in. I could no longer take the propaganda or the stench of death. I knew how dangerous it would be trying to escape from the caliphate. However, after losing everything, there was not much more I can lose. I started planning my escape for freedom. I realized that at some point, I may be recognized for being part of ISIS, but I didn't care. The only thing I really worried about was what would happen to my sisters and Mother after I escape. I wondered if they would be killed for my actions. However, I couldn't think of that; I realized that I would become a murderer and adapt to the beliefs if I stayed. So, the next time we went to the river, I ran and was able to escape.

Now I am in a displacement camp. I have been questioned by the authorities and have told them my story. Thankfully, they believe me and did not throw me in prison for terrorism. I was an ISIS child soldier, I was kidnapped and forced to fight a war I didn't believe in, I have seen more death than many, I have lost everyone I love and everything I know. I am a survivor.

 

        

 

References:

Dozier, K. (2019, May 23). What Happens Now to the Child Soldiers of ISIS? Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://time.com/longform/isis-child-soldiers-yezidi/

Grimley, N. (2017, March 7). The boys made to fight for IS. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/yazidi_boy_soldiers

MAHMOOD, Sara (2016). ‘cubs of the caliphate’: the islamic state’s focus on children. Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, 8(10), 9–12.

Welle, D. (n.d.). The caliphate's cubs: 'Islamic State' and child soldiers: DW: 15.10.2016. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.dw.com/en/the-caliphates-cubs-islamic-state-and-child-soldiers/a-36042450

 

 

 


 

Saturday, September 5, 2020

Human Trafficking Public Announcement

 

    

(Photo from GDJ, 2017).                             

                                                         It is Time to End Human Trafficking

 

In the year 2020, one would think that modern slavery is dead. However, did you know that slavery exists today? Did you that there are currently 21 million people worldwide who are victims of human trafficking? To put that in perspective, according to worldschildren.org, “There are more slaves in the world than the population of London, New York, and Los Angeles combined” (Goodrum, M. 2019).

 

                                                            What is Human Trafficking?

 

  When most people think of human trafficking, they think about sex labor and possibly prostitution. However, it can also be forced labor slavery or using children to fight wars. According to The Legislation of Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal Immigrant Smuggling, human trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, transportation, harboring, transfer, or receipt of any persons utilizing threat, coercion, abduction” (Europol, 2005, p.10). Often traffickers will make the victim feel hopeless and use their power to manipulate the victim in staying, sometimes telling them they have a debt to work off (known as bondage slavery) (Burke, 2018).

 

What Are the Implications of Human Trafficking?

 

  Victims of human trafficking are often treated like animals, kept in subnormal living conditions with very little food, pay (if any), and are often given drugs to force compliance. Often, the victim is maltreated that they are unrecognizable (Burke, 2018). Victims also suffer from physical abuse, including physical exhaustion, starvation, and mental health problems such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It is not uncommon for a victim to suffer from reproductive problems, broken bones, concussions, and even death at the hands of their traffickers (Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, n.d.).

 

What can be done about this problem?

 

Education and public awareness are the most effective solutions to this problem. By continuously educating the public about human trafficking and its implications it allows the public to become more aware of the problem. Moreover, being aware of your surroundings and reporting things that seem suspicious to the police can potentially save lives.


 

References:

Burke, M. C. (2018). Human trafficking: Interdisciplinary perspectives. New York, NY: Routledge.

Europol (2005) Legislation on Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal Immigrant Smuggling.The Hague: Europol.

GDJ. (2017, March 4). Human Trafficking Black [Digital image]. Retrieved September 04, 2020, from https://openclipart.org/detail/274679/human-trafficking-black

Goodrum, M. (2019). Human & Child Trafficking: World's Children. Retrieved September 05, 2020, from https://www.worldschildren.org/trafficking-guide?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_qLk59XS6wIVExx9Ch2rSQNMEAAYAyAAEgKPnfD_BwE

Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. (n.d.). Effects and Consequences of Trafficking Women. Retrieved September 05, 2020, from http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/svaw/trafficking/explore/4effects.htm

 

 

 

Friday, September 4, 2020

Hacking Virtual Classrooms

 Hacking Virtual Classrooms

    Cybercrimes are becoming more common and more sophisticated as time goes on. Within the recent year, alone times have changed. Due to the COVID-19, Pandemic schools have had to adjust their curriculum to online. Not only are colleges adapting to online schools but so are grade schools, leaving schools vulnerable to more cyberattacks.
On August 24, 2020, a fifth-grade class at McKinley elementary school, located in San Leandro, California (San Francisco Bay Area), held a physical education class through zoom. A hacker was able "Zoom-bomb" the class (hacked into zoom). When he/she first joined the class, he/she opened by using offensive language followed by showing pornography images to the children. However, there was no child pornography involved. It was images of adults. The school district reported this offense to the San Leandro police department. The school is unsure if the hackers are from inside or outside the school (Hegarty, 2020).  
    There are several violations of the law in this scenario; not only was there hacking involved, but there was also pornography shown to children. With the perpetrator hacking into a computer system, he/she violated 18 U.S.C. § 1030 (5) (A) (ii) –(iii): Fraud and related activity in connection with computers. According to the textbook System Forensics, Investigation, and Response, this law is most frequently used when charging a hacker (Easttom, 2019, & Jarett, Ballie, et al., n.d.). Additionally, the hacker also violated The Electronic Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) 18 U.S.C. § 2511 (1) (d), which states that if one knowingly and willfully intercepts communications while knowing that it is illegal, violates the law (Jarret, Ballie, et al., n.d., & U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, & Bureau of Justice Assistance, 2019).     According to the manual prosecuting computer crimes, these violations carry felony charges.
The other violations committed during these crimes are more morally concerning because it involves children seeing explicit material while attending their physical education class. It is fair to say that most everybody knows that it is not only morally wrong to show child pornography, but it is also very illegal. In order to legally view pornography, one must be of the legal age of eighteen. Pornography is readily available on the internet, even though there have been attempts to protect children from viewing it. However, due to constitutional rights such as the First Amendment, fully protecting children has become a challenge (Reynolds, 2019).
    Indeed, the hackers committed several crimes alone by hacking into the zoom network during a class. Moreover, they committed more crimes related to children's protection laws. One of the laws that the hacker broke was the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (C.D.A.). The C.D.A. was created to protect children under eighteen from viewing explicit content (Eastoom, 2019).  Even though the children did not purposely go into an adult website to see porn, it was not the pornography company's fault. The hacker put the porn on the screen for the children to watch. Therefore, the children were harmed by the content provided by the hacker.
    Many laws have been broken in this particular situation. However, from the sounds of its San Leandro School district took proper action with this cybercrime. According to the Child Protection and Sexual Predator Punishment Act of 1998, if an organization finds out that a child has seen pornography on a computer, they must report it to law enforcement (Easttom, 2019). By quickly reporting this crime to the police department it may allow ample time to trace where the hack came from. Cyber forensics analysts should look into the firewalls, database logs, and database engines, hopefully indicating where the hack originated (Easttom, 2019).
    Cybercrimes are becoming more sophisticated as time passes. As people become more reliant on the internet and IoT (Internet of Things), the vulnerabilities will increase, and more cybercrimes will become apparent. With COVID-19, people all over the world have become increasingly more reliant on the internet. They are using apps such as GoToMeeting and zoom to continue with daily business while practicing social distancing. Technology can be helpful in many ways; however, we need to protect our children from cybercriminals such as this one.


References:

Easttom, C. (2019). System forensics, investigation, and response (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Hegarty, P. (2020, August 27). San Leandro fifth-graders Zoom-bombed with pornographic images. Retrieved September 04, 2020, from https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/08/27/hacker-targets-online-class-in-san-leandro-with-pornography/

Jarrett, H. M., Bailie, M. W., OLE Litigation Series, Hagen, E., & Eltringham, S. (n.d.). Prosecuting Computer Crimes [Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section Criminal Division]. Washington, DC.

Reynolds, G. W. (2019). Ethics in information technology. Boston, MA: Cengage.

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, & Bureau of Justice Assistance. (2019, April 23). Justice information Sharing. Retrieved September 04, 2020, from https://it.ojp.gov/PrivacyLiberty/authorities/statutes/1285

 

 


 

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Biometrics: Subject to Privacy Violations and Database Breaches

 Biometrics: Subject to Privacy Violations and Database Breaches

When signing on to one's computer, mobile phone, and other devices, it is inconvenient to remember a pesky password; Especially nowadays, with it being essential that every item and every website must have a different password. It is no wonder that biometrics is becoming popular amongst mobile and computer devices. Nevertheless, how safe is biometrics? What happens to one's biometric data once it has been entered into the device? The even more critical question is, can one's biometric data be hacked? Biometrics, though convenient, has several faults that people should exercise caution with, it is not as safe as it may seem.

Biometrics has become part of the American culture and will most likely continue to flourish and become more robust. However, those who work with biometrics such as businesses, governments, and IT professionals must understand the risk associated with biometrics and take proper precautions to prevent more data breaches. The carelessness shown by Suprema, Anthus Tecnologia, US office of Personnel Management, and the Tampa Florida Police department shows the consequences of apathy. Yes, businesses are going to be hacked, and there will be data breaches and doxing of companies and individuals. However, it is unethical not to take every possible precaution to prevent malicious actors from breaching databases and possibly releasing the information on the deep web.

Another question that must be raised with biometrics becoming increasingly innovative is the use of it by governments and police departments to identify potential criminals. Is it ethical for a police officer to stop someone because of facial recognition used to identify suspects? Soon people will be stopped because their walking gait matches a suspect, is that even justifiable? Some may even say it is unethical and an invasion of privacy.

 

Biometrics is a technology that uses the characteristics of one's body, such as facial recognition and fingerprints, in order to authenticate the identity of the person (Grand, 2002). However, there are more types of biometrics than just facial recognition and fingerprints. There are now several different ways to authenticate one's identity through biometrics. Some biometrics used are iris scans, voice signature, hand veins, ears, DNA, and typing rhythm. Even one's walking gait can be used to identify a person with the biometric authentication process (Sarkar, & Singh, 2020).  With this new technology at hand, who needs to remember a pin or password? However, with convenience comes a price that many do not think about due to lack of education and awareness.

Seemingly biometrics is a new technology to general users; However, it has been around for a while. In 1977, biometrics was installed at a Wall Street firm (Grand, 2002). Though Wall Street would use such professedly secure technology, there are many risks associated with it. In order to understand the vulnerabilities, one must know where biometrics are stored. Biometrics are stored in a database on a trusted back end server (Grand, 2002). The other question is, can these databases and servers be hacked, and what is the danger? The answer is yes, and the danger is that there are no laws against sharing biometric data (Memon, 2017); additionally, unlike pins and passwords, people cannot change their physical characteristics.

  Biometrics has some faults that may be considered unethical. For example, biometrics are sometimes easy to fake, and there are potential programming issues that can cause the potential to be hacked. Even more frightening is Homeland Security, FBI, and many police departments use biometric technology to identify perpetrators and foreigners. Homeland security has gone as far as sharing iris and facial recognition with the FBI of foreigners (Memon, 2017). Another example of law enforcement using biometrics is Tampa Florida's Police department. The police department was using facial recognition to catch suspects. However, this technology failed them. In 2002, the American Civil Liberties Union proved that Tampa Florida's Police department had arrested 14 innocent civilians and failed to catch the real perpetrators using their facial recognition database (Grand, 2002).  Not only has the biometrics proved to be faulty, but there are privacy issues with this technology. It is almost as if big brother is setting in a room watching our every move. The movie the Minority Report is becoming more and more a reality as this continues. Indeed, the privacy risk associated with biometrics is real, but even more so is the risk of being hacked.

Like other sensitive information, biometrics needs to be encrypted and secured with robust networking security. However, not all encryption is capable of protecting biometrics. For example, according to CNET (2020), a Bazillion company, Antheus Tecnologia, was hacked earlier this year. Their server had 76,000 unique fingerprints along with their employee's personal information. Unfortunately, the fingerprints were encrypted in binary code, which the hackers were able to reverse back into the fingerprints. The fingerprints were distinguished by using bifurcation (Dividing the biometrics into two parts) and ridge ending data (Hautala, 2020). Another significant exposure happened in 2015 when the US office of personal Management failed to protect their employee's background checks. The hackers were able to get background checks in addition to getting one million fingerprints (Hautala 2020). It is a business's ethical responsibility to ensure that backend servers and databases are secure. Both Anthus Tecnologia and the US Office of Personnel Management are prime examples of why it is vital to have proper encryption and security when it comes to biometrics and sensitive data.

 One of the most popular biometric characteristics that are often used is fingerprints. However, if the company does not take proper precautions to store the fingerprint, a malicious person can easily attain them. According to Forbes magazine (2019), Suprema  (with 7,7000 companies, banks, and governments worldwide) had a significant data breach in 2019. Suprema is responsible for fingerprints for mobile authentication, but they are also responsible for the time and attendance cards of companies. It is said that they have over 28 million records containing biometric data such as fingerprints, facial recognition, and security clearance information leaked during the data breach. How does this happen? Once again, the company did not take proper care of encryption; they saved the actual fingerprint of the person instead of a hash fingerprint. The difference is a hash fingerprint cannot be reverse engineered. Essentially suprema left the whole fingerprint for the hacker (Doffman, 2019). Why would a company with so much data not take every precaution they could to protect their clients?

Conclusion

          Most likely, biometrics will become more advance and perhaps even more invasive. With this robust technology, it is essential that governments, businesses, and IT professionals take precautionary measures to ensure that biometric data is protected and adequately encrypted. Though there is always the potential for a data breach, it is unethical to show apathy and disregard for personal information. The question remains is it ethical for law enforcement to pick a person based on biometric data? With biometrics such as facial recognition and fingerprints on mobile devices, one must use caution before entering information. One must ask themselves, is the convenience of not having to type in a password worth the risk? 

 

 

 

 

References

Doffman, Z. (2019, August 14). New Data Breach Has Exposed Millions Of Fingerprint And Facial Recognition Records: Report. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/08/14/new-data-breach-has-exposed-millions-of-fingerprint-and-facial-recognition-records-report/

Grand, J. (2002). Digital dangers: do biometric solutions offer a false sense of security. (biometrics). E-Business Advisor, 20(7), 62.

Hautala, L. (2020, March 11). Thousands of fingerprint files exposed in unsecured database, research finds. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from https://www.cnet.com/news/thousands-of-fingerprint-files-exposed-in-unsecured-database-research-finds/

Memon, N., "How Biometric Authentication Poses New Challenges to Our Security and Privacy [In the Spotlight]," in IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 196-194, July 2017, doi: 10.1109/MSP.2017.2697179.

Sarkar, A., & Singh, B. K. (2020). A review on performance,security and various biometric template protection schemes for biometric authentication systems. Multimedia Tools and Applications, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-020-09197-7

 

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Cybercrime: The Borderless Crime Protected by Constitutional Loopholes













Cybercrime: The Borderless Crime Protected by Constitutional Loopholes
Jennifer Barnard
Wilmington University 





Abstract
The deep web also sometimes referred to as the dark web is a part of the internet beneath the surface web; an area of the internet in which one is unable to research without a specific browser. Although the deep web and dark web are parts of different layers of the internet, they will be used interchangeably throughout the paper. However, there is no discussion regarding the different layers of the internet. The history of the deep web is discussed along with the notorious silk road. Moreover, how the silk road helps to establish more dark markets throughout the dark web. The deep web is a cesspool for anonymous crimes. Due to the internet not having jurisdictional borders, there are many legal loopholes that criminals use to get away with their crimes, naturally causing problems later on during litigation. Additionally, constitutional loopholes often make it difficult for law enforcement to make an arrest. Several cases will show examples of constitutional loopholes in both Amendments One and Four, that allow the perpetrators to get away with their crimes. Unlike traditional crimes where the litigation is being held in the same state or country of the crime, crimes such as child pornography, human trafficking, and dark markets, jurisdiction may become gray, due to different laws in different states as well as countries.

Keywords: cyberlaw, deep web, dark web, cybercrime, law enforcement






Introduction and Background
When committing a severe crime, it is safe to say that there will be consequences upon arrest. For the most part, crimes are seemingly cut and dry; a perpetrator commits a crime and is fined or sometimes even imprisoned. However, what about the crimes without borders? What about cybercrimes? What happens when a crime is committed outside of its jurisdiction?
Crimes on the deep web are often untouched due to anonymity and legalities such rights protected by the Constitution (Gehl, 2018). Terrorism, child pornography, drug trafficking, and human trafficking happen every day on the deep web. The question is, what is being done about it.  The dark web is below the surface of the Clearnet ( known as the world wide web or surface web), where terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, weapon trafficking, and child pornography are readily available to anyone who knows how to find it.
Since the beginning of time, there have been crimes. Crimes have been going on for so long that it is written about in the bible. In the book of Genesis Chapter 4, murder is recorded between two brothers Cain and Able (Zondervan, 1985). Indeed, the punishments for such crimes have changed since biblical times, but murder is murder and is still a crime. However, Cybercrime is a new type of crime. Cybercrime until recently was never thought of, and it is a crime that was beyond the American forefather's imagination. Although most cybercrimes such as child pornography, kidnapping, and terrorism have the equivalent consequences as the traditional crimes, it is much harder to investigate and charge the offenders with those crimes. Moreover, there seems to be public ignorance regarding the complexities of cybercrimes and their charges.
In many cases, cybercrimes happen over something called the deep web, also referred to as the dark web. What is the deep or dark web? The deep and dark web is below the surface of the internet, also referred to as the Clearnet. When people think of the dark web, some may think that it is a massive place, perhaps even more extensive than the surface internet. However, the deep web only has tens of thousands of websites oppose to the Clearnet, which has billions (Gehl, 2018).
Contrary to popular belief though crime does happen on the deep web, the deep web is not all about crime. One can find sites such as cooking recipes, blogs, forums, and even Facebook and Twitter. The deep web is about anonymity, being able to surf the internet without being tracked by the government. It is also used for whistleblowers to release information without fear of retaliation (Gehl, 2018). Though it is important to note that not everyone on the deep or dark web is on it for malicious purposes, Cybercrime and the lack of action taken by law enforcement due to lack of awareness and anonymity must be addressed.
Indeed, there have been some successes and attempts of catching the virtual criminal with software such as Darpa's Memex in addition to law enforcement planting honeypots (virtual traps) throughout both the Clearnet and the dark web (Mendel & Sharapov, 2016). However, as in real life, the cybercriminal is on top of law enforcement tactics. They use both physical and technological techniques to help prevent themselves from being apprehended (Eneman, 2009). Moreover, one of the biggest challenges is charging a perpetrator with their crime.
Cybercrimes are crimes without borders. In the United States, crimes and their penalty depend on where the jurisdiction lies. Depending on where the crime is perpetrated depends on which laws will be enforced. The same rule applies to cybercrimes at international levels (Craig, 2013). In addition to the jurisdictional problems of cybercrimes, there are also constitutional issues that come into play while investigating cybercrimes. Even though the internet is without borders, Americans still have the same constitutional rights as they would typically have in the prosecution of a crime.  Most of the time, criminals will use the defense that either their First Amendment (freedom of religion, speech, and press) or their Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search and seizure) were infringed upon (Craig, 2013). Indeed, these laws are a necessity and what the United States was founded on. However, these laws are also making it challenging for law enforcement to do their jobs and prevent more cybercrimes from happening adequately.
Another major issue with cybercrimes is anonymity. Like traditional perpetrators, cybercriminals do not want to be found. Not being discovered is easier than ever due to the ability of anonymity. Although the deep web can still give away one's location and is not entirely foolproof, there are other methods to ensure anonymity such as VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) (Gehl, 2018). Due to the dark webs primary focus being on anonymity, it is making it even more difficult for law enforcement to find cybercriminals. Furthermore, the dark web is mostly a mystery to the public and something seen on crime tv shows. With the dark web seemingly being fictional, people are more likely to leave themselves open to attacks leaving the public free to vulnerabilities.
Though Clearnet (World Wide Web) has been around since the late 1980s, the deep web has only been around since 2000. Freenet is an innovative browser that allows access to the deep web. Freenet was founded by Ian Clarke, who was a computer scientist. Ian Clarke set the Freenet browser up to be a peer to peer network (Gehl, 2018). According to the book Weaving the Dark Web, Freenet's nodes (central connecting points) are in a world topology and connect to a small number of nodes, which are both neighbor and random distant nodes. Additionally, "none of the nodes have a complete map of the network" (Gehl, 2018, p.55), which means that it would be difficult for one to trace back to the sending source or the person who is using Freenet.
Another popular browser that is often used is Tor (The Onion Router).  The infamous Tor, also known as "The Free Haven Project," was in the invention stage in 1999. However, there were some coding opportunities, and Tor beta was not released until 2002. Though the beta was released, coding was still a challenge with Tor, which caused the release date to be moved back to 2003. Even with the premature beta release in 2002, there were still complications with Tors coding. Mathewson and Dingledine came up with something called "rendezvous points," which allowed the anonymous hosting, and hidden services were born (Gehl, 2018).  The Tor project was founded by both the Naval research lab and by David Molnar, and Michal Freedman.  The purpose of Tor was to protect people's identities from governmental surveillance (Gehl, 2018).
Lastly, I2P was invented by Lance James, who also went by the aliases nop, no operation, 0x90. James's inspiration was based on Freenet; however, frustrated with how slow Freenet was, James decided to invent I2P.  James recruited Jrandom, who began working on I2P. In order to help fix the frustratingly low latency of Freenet, he decided to use relay chat, allowing multiple users to use it. With I2P, people were able to access the dark web with a browser configured to HTTP and configured to the I2P router. Unlike the Clearnet, people did not have to pay a web host if they wanted a website. Instead, they were able to add too what they called "eepsites" by adding HTML and CSS on their computers. I2P was released to the public in 2003. In 2007, Jrandom decided to leave I2P, and zzz is now leading I2P (Gehl, 2018). 
When people think about cybercrimes, it seems as though most think about hacking and viruses.  Whereas hacking and viruses impact just about everyone with a Wi-Fi connection, it is not the only Cybercrime that happens. Many other crimes happen on the dark web. One of the most notorious deep websites is the silk road. The silk road was a known drug trafficking website and was founded by Ross Ulbricht or "Dread Pirate Roberts." (Trend Micro, 2015).  The Silk Road was originally designed to sell illegal drugs anonymously without having to meet up with a drug dealer. However, the silk road was also used to sell other illegal services such as hacked accounts, pirated content, fake passports, and fake driver licenses. Before being his arrest, Ulbricht was even considering trafficking weapons through the silk road. Ulbricht was detained in San Francisco on October 1, 2013 (Olson, 2013). Though The silk road is no longer in existence, the underground market has grown, criminals have gotten smarter, and access to anything illegal has become significantly simplistic. Moreover, there are legal loopholes that allow this criminal activity to continue. While Cybercrimes are most definitely illegal, between anonymity and legalities, finding the right tools to commit the crime is painfully easy and is easier to carry out.
When connecting a computer or any device to the internet, the device becomes vulnerable to threats that can harm the device. For this reason, people spend lots of money on antivirus and malware software to protect their computers. Where hacking, spoofing, and sending viruses are considered cybercrimes, cybercrimes are more than just a computer crime. Traditional crimes such as terrorism, human trafficking, drug trafficking, weapon trafficking, and child pornography are happening with just a stroke of a key. These crimes are not only happening throughout the world wide web but also on the deep web.  
One of the most prevalent cybercrimes happening today on the deep web is the market industry. The silk road proved the demand for drugs, fake IDs, hackers for hire, and access to endless child pornography. By signing up for an anonymous email address such as protonmail and coming up with a handle and a purchase of bitcoin (Cryptocurrency), people were able to purchase whatever they want without a trace. Even after the government seized the silk road, the deep web market boomed. With the Silkroad at the forefront of the news, the silk road brought attention to the deep web inadvertently, increasing the number of tor users (Dolliver et al., 2018).
When signing onto the deep web, there is a wide variety of markets. While searching the deep web, it is relatively easy to find Sites such as Whitehouse, silk road 3, and the deep market. Similar to websites such as Amazon, eBay, or other .com sites, there are categories of items listed on the side of the page that help people navigate to whatever illegal product they would like to buy. Additionally, there is a section for the consumer to pick which vendor they would prefer to purchase from. For the most part, deep markets are focused on selling illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Also, like online shopping sites, illegal products have to be distributed physically to the location of the buyer. By trafficking illegal products online, this makes the united states post office almost a carrier of the illegal drug market. Though there is some risk of getting caught during the transport phase, it is still less of a risk than actually meeting up with a drug or weapon dealer (Dolliver et al., 2018).
In the Journal A Geographical Analysis of Drug Trafficking Patterns on the Tor network, (Dolliver et al., 2018) discuss the different patterns of drug trafficking and the countries with the most distribution of the drugs. They base their research on the crypto market agora, which at the time was the most prevalent market on the deep web. They found that the major contributing countries were the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and the Netherlands. Their findings that prescription drugs were sold more than non-prescription drugs, and that "Out of a total of 20,742 active listings on the site, 14,210 were drug items" (Dolliver et al., 2018, p.54). The drug lords of the deep web also noted that they had the option to mark their packages worldwide or undeclared, allowing themselves to remain anonymous during the transport of the drugs.  The statistics were provided from a website that no longer exists and voluntarily shutdown in 2015 (Dolliver et al., 2018). However, one must wonder how much the statistics have changed with so many more deep web markets now available to the public? With anonymous buying, transporting, and easy access to drugs all over the world, it is no wonder that the world is under a drug epidemic.
Another significant problem on the deep web is human trafficking and child pornography. Both of these crimes are indeed sick and more disturbing than drug and weapon trafficking. However, like traditional criminals' cybercriminals are staying on top of ways to evade the police.
Disturbingly child pornography is nothing new. Additionally, it is relatively easy to find on both the Clearnet and the deep web. In order to avoid arrest, child predators use phrases such as "cheese pizza or cheese pizza with or without sausage" with the pieces of pizza indicating age preference on public forums to advertise their interest. Likewise, human trafficking is booming all over the world. It is not only being done in person but also over the web through hidden links that are in plain sight, such as advertisements on websites (Mendel, & Sharapov, 2016). Surprisingly finding information regarding human trafficking on the dark web has been a challenge. However, Black Death is a website on the dark web that allows recruiting and sex labor trafficking (Kaur, & Randhawa, 2020). Digging deep into the dark web will bring up not just human trafficking websites but murder for hire, human experiments, and human organ trade. The sites are often hard to find, and the legitimacy of the websites is debatable.
With child pornography being a high-risk crime, some people may think that getting arrested would be on the minds of the child predators. It is indeed on their minds; however, the majority think that they will never be caught. Moreover, some admit that their addiction to child pornography outweighs the risk of arrest. Eneman (2009) did a study with several convicts in prison and in mental facilities that had been convicted of child pornography. The consensus was that the pleasure of watching child pornography was far more important to them than the risk. Some even made the comment that though they often thought about getting caught, they always assumed that it would never happen to them. When Eneman asked them what they did to avoid being apprehended, they admitted that the child pornography community has stringent rules and guidelines that needed to be abided be followed. Moreover, the child predators admitted that they were able to tell who the police were by their language, and the child pornography community would communicate with each other. They would, in a sense, compare notes with regarding other users. Additionally, the child pornographers admitted to using encryption techniques and programs that allowed them to use anonymity (Eneman, 2009). With the deep web making child predators able to hide under anonymity. Law enforcement is having an even harder time catching these criminals.
Child pornography is indeed a massive problem within not only the United States but all over the world. With the deep web making child predators able to hide under anonymity. Law enforcement is having an even harder time catching these criminals. On the website Playpen, there were over 200,000 members who were readily available to watch children be sexually abused for their pleasure. Lolita City had over 100 GB of child pornography in both pictures and videos, with 15,000 members ready to watch, both sites were taken down by the FBI (Kaur & Randhawa, 2020). Even though the FBI has seized sites, there are still many out there with the same staggering numbers. Worse than the child pornography sites are the red room sites that one cannot access through Tor as it is way too slow to handle the stream. One of the famous sites featuring not only child pornography but also torture was Daisy's Destruction. This video featured a child not only being raped but tortured. Even more revolting is that people would pay to watch. This gruesome website was featured on "hurt core" pedophile sites. The founder of the website Peter Scully was sentenced to life in prison in 2018 (Kaur & Randhawa, 2020). 
            Most everyone who was of appropriate age can remember when September 11, 2001, happened. It was not only one of the most tragic days in American history, but it also changed the dynamics of American living. Terrorism was no longer events overseas. It became a problem within the United States borders. When Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) became prominent, a lot of the activity provoking the attacks happened over the dark web. For over a decade, the terrorist group Al-Qaida was using the dark web to communicate with each other regarding planned attacks, recruiting, and indoctrination of their beliefs. In 2015 the deep web played such a significant role in terrorism that the communications regarding the Paris attack were all done through a dark web forum on Tor (Weimann, 2016).
            To make matters worse, the terrorist posted their attack and propaganda on the dark web so that everyone could see it (Weimann, 2016). Once again, between the encryption, anonymity, and hidden links it is difficult for law enforcement to find these websites or even track where the threat is coming from. Of course, ISIS did not just post on the deep web. It is common knowledge that they posted beheadings and propaganda on the surface web. However, the fact that there is a place on the internet where they can discuss their next attack, post instructions, and whatever they want without being traced is indeed startling. 
Law enforcement is fully aware of what happens on the deep web, and they are indeed trying to curve the crime. There are now several departments that focus on cybercrimes. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) is one of the departments that focuses on Cybercrime. DARPA created a program called Memex to help track human trafficking by monitoring forums, chats, and hidden links by using algorithms that continuously looks for different phrases relating to the crime that is being investigated. In addition to looking for key phrases on the dark web, it also searches social media and the Clearnet (Mendel & Sharapov, 2016). Memex is a vital program that is continuously helping identify criminal activity throughout the dark web.
            Additionally, law enforcement is actively planting honeypots in hopes of catching someone in the act. Honeypots are live traps that are planted within advertisements and are a form of a network intrusion detection system. The purpose of the honeypot is to lure in hackers and other perpetrators and record explicit details of their visit to the site (Whitman & Mattord, 2011). The FBI has been very active at seizing websites such as the silk road, Daisy's destruction, tracking terrorists, and sometimes even preventing terrorist attacks. Preventive measures taken are significant and show that law enforcement is attempting to be proactive with our cybercrime problem; it is still faulty.
Cybercriminals are staying on top of these tactics; they have checks and balances in place to ensure that people whom they are communicating with are not the police. Honeypots, though, useful are something that cybercriminals are aware of, and there is software available such as "The honey pot hunter," which tracks and reports honeypots that are set to catch these criminals (Hayatle et al., 2013). As police come up with new ideas and research vulnerabilities, so do the criminals. Cybercrimes that would be hard to prove based on words. Such as the intent to harm, how can one prove that the perpetrator was not joking? When it comes to freedom of speech, except for child pornography, it would be hard to prove if the perpetrator was genuinely intending on committing the crime or merely joking.
Another problem that law enforcement is running into is the constitution. When the constitution was created the forefathers of the United States did not fathom electronics. Electronics were not even a concept in the year 1787. One of the major Amendments that are always in a debate when it comes to internet crimes is the First Amendment (Freedom of Speech). Even though the first Amendment covers most freedom of speech, but it does not cover child pornography, defamation, threats that are intended to be acted upon, and solicitations to commit the crime (Craig, 2013). However, the laws in place are not enough to help prevent cybercrimes from happening and protect the victims in these heinous crimes. The problem, however, some of the clauses are too broad such as obscenity. It is written in the law, that child pornography is indeed illegal in the United States.
There are still arguments about whether or not it is violating the rights of American citizens to express their First Amendment. In order to put guidelines into place to prevent First Amendment disputes, the court created a three-part test to determine what is not protected by the First Amendment, which resulted after the Miller v. California case. During Miller V. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973) was convicted for mailing out four books that contained obscenity on marital sex. Miller later appealed his conviction (Hudson, n.d.). In order for something not to be covered under the First Amendment, it must cause the average person to find the material sexually appealing. It must be offensive in a sexual way, and is not of artistic, political, scientific value or "Lacks serious literacy" (Ward, n.d.). Ultimately Miller rejected the decision because it was unreasonable and unconstitutional not to accept the same expectations of what is offensive in one state that would not be considered offensive in a place such as Las Vegas (Ward, n.d.). This total rejection of the decision based on where the crime is committed brings up personal jurisdiction again. If a crime is committed in a country, that child pornography is not offensive. Is then not punishable by law in that specific country? 
Due to the Internet, there have to be some changes in place in order to accommodate the new technology. In 1996, in order to accommodate these new needs, the courts came up with the 1996 Communication Decency Act (CDA). The CDA is outdated, and some protections put into place have failed due to the vagueness of the statue. In the case, Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.A. 844, 874-81 (1997), the statute failed because by stopping sexually explicit content in order to protect minors it was also preventing adults from receiving the content which violated their constitutional rights under the First Amendment. In addition to the Protect ACT established in 2003, which protects children from being exploited. However, even though this act is a great tool, it also has faced its constitutional challenges (Craig, 2013). One of these challenges is the First Amendment and virtual child pornography. With technological advances, preparators were able to take pictures of children and morph them into virtual children performing sexual acts. The Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) was created in 1996 and was looking into halting this type of pornography. However, once again, the First Amendment came into factor once again. During the trial of Ashcroft V Free Speech Coalition, Ashcroft argued that CPPA's definition of child pornography, which included virtual children, was a violation of the First Amendment. The reason behind this claim was because the child was virtual therefor; no child was being harmed. With the virtuality of the picture under consideration, the supreme court then had to decide whether the picture was indeed considered to be obscene or child pornography. One of the arguments was that by allowing virtual child pornography, it allows the predator to seek out the real thing potentially. The court ruled that they could not break the First Amendment based on that it has the potential to cause a crime. The justice concluded that it would be hard for them to determine if virtual children were being used for movies or porn, therefore, outlawing it would be too broad and may violate the First Amendment (Kornegay, 2006).
The other Amendment in the Constitution that makes it very difficult to fight Cybercrime is the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment prevents unreasonable search and seizure in addition to ensuring that law enforcement must have warrants to search for one's property and have a probable cause (Craig, 2013). One example where someone's privacy was violated is the case of Jones v. State, Jones was a drug trafficker, and law enforcement was tracking his movement for a month by using a GPS. The court ruled that by tracking Jones, every movement gave law enforcement an intimate look of his daily life there for violating his Fourth Amendment. Jones's case was dismissed because the expectation for privacy was violated (Gray et al., 2013). Though Jones v. state was not considered to be a cybercrime, this example shows how easy evidence can be thrown out based on the broadness of the law. 
When it comes to Cybercrime, police cannot merely go through computers, emails, or even request this information from the providers in order to collect evidence. Like talking on the phone and having private conversations, email is also protected under the Fourth Amendment. People have a right to their privacy; therefore, in order to go through someone's email, law enforcement must have a warrant for those emails before they can seize those emails from service providers (Craig, 2013). Obtaining warrant and the probable cause may be difficult for law enforcement, especially if the perpetrator is using some form of anonymity. Additionally, the police are not able to search the computer or electronic device merely on suspicion. Also, people overseas are protected by the same rights as those in America. The First and Fourth Amendments apply to them, even though they are not citizens (Craig, 2013).
All in all, between the lack of education, resources, and experience amongst law enforcement, cybercrimes are often going unenforced (Craig, 2013). Leaving cybercriminals free to continue to build their markets, trade child pornography, commit terrorism all on the deep web where anonymity is almost a guarantee. Where all someone has to do is download a browser. By downloading Tor, I2P, or Freenet, they have all the access to the underground markets hidden behind the screen of their computers.
                                                  Conclusion
The forefathers of the United States created the constitution in order to protect American's rights. However, when the constitution was written, electronics were not existent, and the internet was beyond anyone's imagination. For this reason, when the constitution was written, it was not meant for cyber laws. For this reason, there are many loopholes in Amendments such as the first and fourth Amendment. With the constitutional loopholes in place crimes such as virtual child pornography, terrorism, and black markets on the dark web are able to continue. Law enforcement and lawmakers need to be able to continually keep up with innovations that allow cybercriminals to continue to carry out their crimes. In addition, legislators and congress need to revise the loopholes to further protect victims from cybercrimes in addition to not violating the Americans rights. Finally, teachers and parents should become familiar with the dark web and educate children of "stranger danger" on the web. If America continues in the direction we are going regarding cybercrimes, not only will there be new innovations to combat policing tools such as honeypots, but the cybercriminals will get smarter, and there will continue to be victims. Our drug epidemic will continue to grow, and the ability to catch the perpetrator will continue to diminish. None of this will be fixed overnight, and the situation itself is complicated. However, it is time to take a proactive approach instead of continuously taking a reactive approach.



References
Craig, B. (2013). Cyberlaw: the law of the internet and information technology. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Dolliver, D. S., Ericson, S. P., & Love, K. L. (2018). A geographic analysis of drug trafficking patterns on the TOR network. Geographical Review, 108(1), 45-68. doi:10.1111/gere.12241
Eneman, M. (2009). Counter-Surveillance Strategies Adopted By Child Pornographers. International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction, 5(4), 1–17. doi: 10.4018/jthi.2009062501
Gray, D., C, D. K.Citron, & Rinehart, L. C. (2013). Fighting Cybercrime After United States V. Jones. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 103(3), 745–801.
Gehl, R. (2018). Weaving the dark web: Legitimacy on freenet, tor and I2P, Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Hayatle, O., Otrok, H., & Youssef, A. (2013). A Markov Decision Process Model for High Interaction Honeypots. Information Security Journal: A Global Perspective, 22(4), 159–170. https://doi-org.mylibrary.wilmu.edu/10.1080/19393555.2013.828802
Kaur, S., & Randhawa, S. (2020). Dark web: A web of crimes. Wireless Personal Communications, (2020). doi:10.1007/s11277-020-07143-2
Kornegay, J. N. (2006). Protecting Our Children and the Constitution: An Analysis of the "Virtual" Child Pornography Provisions of the PROTECT Act of 2003. William & Mary Law Review, 47(6), 2130–2166. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol47/iss6/7
59–170. https://doi-org.mylibrary.wilmu.edu/10.1080/19393555.2013.828802
Hudson, D. L. (n.d.). Miller v. California. Retrieved from https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/401/miller-v-california
Mendel, J., & Sharapov, K. (2016). Human trafficking and online networks: Policy, analysis, and ignorance. Antipode, 48(3), 665-684. doi:10.1111/anti.12213
Olson, P. (2013). Tech monthly: Dark web: Entrepreneur and tech wizard ross ulbricht went to san Francisco to change the world. the FBI say he did it by controlling the internet's biggest market for illicit drugs: Silk road was the internet's wild west. parmy olson, in san francisco, traces the ideology and passions behind its radical founder, ross ulbricht. The Observer (London, England), , 8-8. Retrieved from https://go-gale-com.mylibrary.wilmu.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=00297712&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA348778730&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs
Trend Micro. (2015). From tor to ulbricht: The deep web timeline - security news - trend micro USA. Retrieved from https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/from-tor-to-ulbricht-the-deep-web-timeline
Weimann, G. (2016). Terrorist Migration to the Dark Web. Perspectives on Terrorism, 10(3), 40–44.
Ward, A. (n.d.). Child Pornography. Retrieved from https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/993/child-pornography
Whitman, M. E., & Mattord, H. J. (2011). Hands-on information security lab manual (3rd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.
Zondervan. (1985). The Niv Study Bible. THE NIV STUDY Bible.