Sam Bent: Tor and OpSec in the Darknet — An Insider’s Perspective

A talk by a former darknet vendor about applying hacker thinking to operational security within Tor and darknet ecosystems. This is not an academic perspective, but a practical one — drawn from firsthand experience inside darknet markets, moderation roles, and involvement with the Dread project, followed by imprisonment and early release.

The talk explores real-world OpSec methods, risk analysis, countermeasures against linguistic profiling, and operating under constant law enforcement pressure. It offers insight into how the system actually works — and what happens when the fundamental rule of “don’t get caught” is ultimately broken.