Representing Darknet Data at the Intelligence and National Security Summit

September 12, 2024

Earlier this month, Alison Halland, Chief Business Officer of DarkOwl, attended AFCEA/INSA Intelligence and National Security Summit in National Harbor, MD.

Alison and Kathy Hoffman represented the DarkOwl team at the Intelligence and National Security Summit hosted by INSA and AFCEA for a busy 2 days. The event describes themselves as “the nation’s premiere conference for unclassified dialogue between U.S. Government intelligence agencies and their industry and academic partners,” and had over 2,100 attendees this year.

AFCEA International is a non-profit organization founded in 1946 that supports its members by offering a platform for the ethical exchange of information. It is committed to advancing knowledge by addressing topics of importance to its members in information technology, communications, and electronics, particularly within the defense, homeland security, and intelligence sectors. The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering public-private partnerships that advance intelligence and national security priorities. INSA focuses on identifying, developing, and promoting collaborative solutions to national security challenges. With over 160 member organizations, INSA benefits from active involvement by leaders and senior executives across the public, private, and academic sectors.

In addition to the exhibit hall, attendees could participate in a number of speaking sessions and breakout sessions. During the plenary sessions, top agency and military intelligence leaders discussed strategic intelligence challenges, military intelligence priorities, and the state of the community, and during the breakout sessions, senior executives, technology experts, and thought leaders explored some of the most pressing issues facing the community. Speakers included leaders from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, In-Q-Tel, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Innovation Unit, US Navy, U.S. Space Force and many more. Topics included issues such as AI and emerging technologies, China and CI security, space acquisition, and more.

One of the common themes throughout the conference is the agreed upon need for darknet data. What was once viewed as a “nice to have,” is no longer. Government agencies and companies alike are on the same page that the data DarkOwl can provide is invaluable. Due to the layer of anonymity it provides, the darknet is often a hub for illegal activity. However, investigating crime on the darknet and deep web poses technical challenges, including the fact that darknet sites are continually coming on and offline with pages vanishing from one minute to the next. The technology DarkOwl leverages to scrape and index hidden digital undergrounds are key to the mission of obtaining proactive situational awareness for protection of the nation’s security initiatives.

DarkOwl Vision UI provides a user-friendly interface with powerful querying capabilities to search, monitor, and create alerts for critical information. DarkOwl Vision has been used to support local and federal police investigations, as well as work done in intelligence/fusion centers and federal agencies to uncover human trafficking, opioid selling, terrorism, security issues, and other illegal activity, making it the perfect tool for this audience to be able to dive into. Using our darknet search engine, investigators are able to collect intelligence without having to access the darknet directly, offering a layer of protection and improved case-building efficiency.

Our government applications span a wide range, encompassing the tracking of threat actors, criminal activities such as drugs and human trafficking, malware detection, monitoring hacking forums, and searching marketplaces for illegal or stolen credentials, personal identifiable information, and intellectual property. Utilizing DarkOwl Vision, our darknet search engine, investigators can gather intelligence on individuals or subjects of interest, extracting usernames, aliases, chatroom activities, and potentially incriminating information. This data is then employed to compile evidence and solve intricate crimes. Our passion, our focus, and our expertise is the darknet.

The DarkOwl looks forward to attending the Intelligence and National Security Summit next year!