Interpol Partners Up With S2W LAB To Target Dark Web And Crypto

After achieving recent success through the cooperation of local law enforcement when it came to cryptojacking in particular, Interpol has decided to set its sights on a new target: The dark web and crypto crime. They will do so through the assistance of a startup company based in Korea.

Teaming UP With A South Korean Company

Interpol has started to take the threat that comes from crypto and dark web crimes quite seriously.  It’s no secret that a majority of funding activities within the dark web is done through cryptocurrencies, as it provides far more anonymity, especially in the past.  Through an official statement released today, the International Criminal Police Organization has announced the signing of an agreement with S2W LAB, a South Korean startup. This startup will help Interpol recover data mined from the dark web.

The dark web stands as a veritable hotbed of illegal or otherwise dubious activities across the globe, due to its anonymous nature. That same nature makes it very difficult to track the flow of information that goes through it, and in turn, lets many dangerous criminals avoid prosecution.

Trying To Catalogue The Dark Web

The most rampant examples of this would be the trading of illegal credit card details, as well as password information. A more socially damaging aspect is the widespread dissemination of revenge porn from all across the globe.

S2W Lab was formed back in 2018. The South Korea-based data intelligence startup has a record of tracking a massive amount of data from the dark web, establishing its own database. Through the use of an AI-based analytic engine with a multi-domain format, the company is capable of data analysis in the search for links between various domains and timeframes.

A New Alliance Has Formed

Interpol gained interest in S2W LAB thanks to a series of international patents it had authorized, as well as a series of authoritative papers the company has published regarding the dark web. These include things like cryptocurrency analysis, a Web Conference on the subject of the dark web as a whole, and the Network and Distribution System Security Symposium. The company has recently gained $5 million through a Series A investment round.

Shin Seung-won, a professor at KAIST and the CTO of the company, was appointed as a member of Interpol’s “Global Cryptographic Bank Crime Prevention Subcommittee. He explained that responding to cybercrime within the dark web is a very complicated process. This is primarily due to the widespread usage of crypto and the characteristics of the dark web itself, according to Seung-won. As such, he promised cooperation with the relevant international investigations, lending their technology to Interpol for a good cause.