Privacy-enhanced communication and secured browsing Although the basic crypto communication protocols are not encrypted, the vast majority of crypto wallet application browsing is encrypted by end-to-end Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. SSL is an encryption-based internet security protocol that provides internet communications with privacy authentication based on a handshake procedure. It is designed to ensure that the identities behind communication devices are who they claim to be and to promote data integrity. A more recent update of SSL is called Transport Layer Security (TLS). By encrypting the data communication between parties (a user and a web server), SSL/TLS ensures that the communication content will not be revealed and will appear as encrypted characters. Criminals and terrorist use these methods to ensure that their communications, including those in a crypto wallet application, are private. In addition to application encryption, advanced secured and anonymous network access services enable users to hide their identity and transactions by using a different IP address or geo location. Two of the most common means are VPN (Virtual Private Network) and Tor. VPN is a security layer added to subscribers’ IP traffic, mainly as a second layer of protection on top of app-encrypted communications or secured websites. It encrypts the data and the user’s identity to hide traffic from the communications service provider and from interception parties and prevents the analysis of transaction traffic. VPNs use secure protocols such as PPTP, L2TP, or OpenVPN to encapsulate online transactions. If a user is trading in Bitcoin and leverages a VPN, he or she may appear to be working from New York, for example, although located in the Ukraine. Tor is a free software that performs “onion routing,” which is technique for encrypting the application layer, essentially masking IP addresses. As such, Tor powers illicit transactions that keep the Bitcoin user’s address hidden. Privacy enhanced wallets, such as Wasabi, use embedded Tor as one of the means to increase users’ anonymity (see page 10). These veteran means of hiding illicit activities continue to enable criminals and terrorists to operate in the dark by preventing security and law enforcement organizations from tracking their connections or knowing which applications were used or which websites were visited. 2 1 Tracking activity on the blockchain and following the illicit money trail to an exchange 3 Keeping up with financial investigations in the crypto age 9