Reddit user HugBunter announced the launch of Dread, a Reddit-like .onion site that will also include market security reports, premium reports, ratings, a .onion site list, and other services.

Dark web markets have recently been suffering from security issues, and the offered security reports will allow potential customers to make informed decisions of which markets to use.

Dread’s Features

HugBunter has been developing the hidden service, and he has now publicly announced the site for public testing. Dread possesses several similarities to reddit in terms of interaction and making conversations.

The community service will provide a discussion platform with groups of sub-communities that include user moderation responsibilities. The great part of it is that unlike reddit, which has been taking down dark web market subreddits over the past several weeks, it will have minimal censorship and limitations.

In theory, it should result in a great platform for open and honest conversation within the dark web. There has been an apparent lack of open and interactive communication among dark web enthusiasts, and the Dread hidden service is a resource that has arrived right in the nick of time.

Developed from the ground up without the use of JavaScript or frameworks, the hidden service mimics many of reddit’s core features.

Dread’s Security Reports

In addition to providing a community forum, the hidden service will be offering services including market penetration testing, market development assistance, and vendor shop development and hosting.

Dread will include free market security reports as well as a full premium security reports for the darknet markets included in its hidden services list, if available. Dream Market’s security report is already available on the site, with updates scheduled as the website goes into its full launch.

In the wake of high-profile arrests of dark web market operators, having reports on the technical security of dark web markets is paramount. For users to continue using the dark web for their purchases, they must be informed of the security of the markets by a reliable third party.

Dread’s Onion Site List

Dread’s onion site list is comprised of the official links for established dark net markets. The list is arranged in the order of the security rating determined by Dread’s security reports, with each security report attached to its relevant site.

This will give users a platform to analyze a market and make an informed decision based on the security of a market. The developer has indicated that this list, like the forum boards, is free for everyone in the dark web community. He hopes that the service can somehow guarantee a future for the community.

He takes note of the prevailing Reddit ban-waves and warns that the community should be cognizant of the fact that any subreddit can be taken down at any time without warning.

Dread’s Onion Mirror Links

The developer of Dread is including up to 50 official mirrors for each market, and has made use of a mirror system where 5 mirrors will be displayed per market at any given time.

The mirror links will be tracked every minute for uptime, and will cycle to display a new mirror link if one is determined to be down.

The developer will also be requesting for signed messages for each mirror from the markets, so they can always be verified.

This feature will provide statistics that have accurate uptimes, response times per mirror link, page response times, and related information. This makes for a quite effective real-time monitoring system. However, prior to the main launch of the site and its full functionality, tracking is disabled due to server limitations.

Also read: Silk Road 2.0 Founder Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

The Development of Dread

The developer of the hidden service, HugBunter, had started the development of the Dread service in mid-2017, but placed it on hold due to time limitations.

His successful hacking of Odyssey Market weeks ago once again sparked his inspiration and motivation to work on developing Dread. Likewise, the recent banning of subreddits has contributed to his rekindled drive towards the project.

As it is in the beta launch and public testing stage, there are bugs to be expected at the beginning of the usage of the service, but it has the potential to gain significant traction as it moves towards its full functionality.

Official Address of Dread http://dreadecomdopooda.onion