The dark web is considered to be a dynamic ecosystem, and like mainstream sectors, filled up to the neck with opportunities.
By now, the offerings of dark web economy range from tangible products to services like hacking tools and applications.
It is no secret that the smooth operation of these ventures demand a rather complex web of both skilled and unskilled labor.
Indeed, the hierarchy of the dark web means that darknet spaces must still serve as platforms for advertising jobs-both legal and illegal in nature.
But how defined are job advertisements in the dark web?
Let's take a look.
Sometime back, Liberty Market made headlines by posting a job ad publicly in circumstances that were deemed "out of the box" by commentators across the global divide.
In the advertisement, the site was searching for a content "cleaner" with fluency in the French language.
Just to make things clear, Liberty Market advertised an otherwise harmless job posting, yet we all cannot escape the fact that the darknet site supports a host of illegal operations.
Nonetheless, before we delve into the darknet world to reveal some interesting job listings, let's first highlight important principles of dark web economy.
Fundamental Principles
Darknet markets borrow a leaf from conventional surface web markets. The dark web space also exhibits a similarity with traditional markets in the context of job opportunities.
A recent study by Trustwave SpiderLabs revealed interesting details that describe recruitment factors that keep the darknet economy thriving.
Researchers discovered that darknet markets are structured just like any other organization within a typical corporate ecosystem, with a striking resemblance to small and medium scale enterprises.
Generally, darknet markets demonstrate competition among themselves and it is this aspect that drives them to flex their muscles as far as technical and non-technical skills are concerned.
In order to study the critical aspects of job advertising on the dark web, it is prudent for us to first understand a few dynamics regarding the workings of the darknet economy.
The first principle is demand, which is determined by market forces of supply. As an example, darknet profits are generated when the creator of a piece of malware avails it to willing buyers.
The second point is that of workforce hierarchy, which is dictated by a subject's placement within the darknet human resources ladder.
The dark web comprises a wide range of laborers ranging from the highly skilled, well-paid expert to the regular worker doing a run-of-the-mill job.
However, while each of these principles may appear to occur divergently from each other, the open truth is that dark web business is largely controlled by the correlation between risk and reward-persons that take the most risk earn the highest income.
Job Opportunities on the Dark Web
Believe it or not, darknet sites provide actual listings for job opportunities for a wide range of specialties.
Arguably, marketers and programmers take the largest piece of the pie as far as job opportunities are concerned.
Marketers
The evolution of dark web marketing has driven sites into establishing market interventions for a rather competitive business environment.
The scramble for consumer attention creates a genuine demand for marketers and advertising specialists on the dark web, each of whom are tasked with advancing the promotion interests of darknet markets.
Programmers
Web development is central to the darknet world. This comes in the wake of significant changes as far as the formation of darknet sites is concerned.
Historically speaking, dark web sites were mostly formed by experienced coders. This narrative changed since, today, most people have rushed to dive into the business of creating darknet marketplaces owing to their information about the profitability of selling illegal items online.
While past darknet market founders such as Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road took on most of the web programming process on their own, recent founders are seeking experienced web developers to run their platforms. This creates an obvious job opportunity to programmers.
SpiderLabs' Report: Job Listings Found on the Dark Web
Trustwave SpiderLabs' study on a number of darknet job ads provided interesting details. Job adverts on the dark web give the promise of better pay for the same tasks available in the ordinary space.
One listing for a car driver provided a compensation of $1,000 for a week's work, an amount that is quite steep when compared to the monthly earnings of a typical driver.
You might be wondering-what justifies such high pay?
Well, a position for car driver, as provided by the darknet site seeking workers, involves the applicant travelling to deliver illegal items such as drugs.
Specifically, drivers act as droppers in the darknet-supported drug value chain. They risk their freedom to deposit drugs ordered via the dark web at designated points.
To sum things up, high risk jobs attract better pay compared to low risk ones-it's simple math.