Multimodal Web Agents for Automated (Dark) Web Navigation

Mrunal Vibhute, Neol Gutierrez, Kristina Radivojevic, Paul Brenner

2025

Abstract

Studying marketplaces hosted on the dark web is challenging due to the robust security measures these platforms use to protect user anonymity and prevent unauthorized access. While these marketplaces facilitate the trade of illegal goods and services, their use of CAPTCHAs, encryption, and the Tor network creates significant barriers for researchers attempting to gather data. We developed a software agent capable of overcoming the obstacles to automating the navigation of these marketplaces. The tool is specifically designed for ethical and legal research, helping cybersecurity experts identify and analyze dark Web activities to mitigate potential threats. Built using Python and Selenium WebDriver, and operating within the Tor Browser for anonymity, our agent uses Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) to help automate the data acquisition process. These models can interpret both text and images, enabling the agent to solve complex CAPTCHAs that would otherwise block access to random bots in the marketplace. Once logged in, the agent automatically collects important data like vendor details, product categories, and prices. Additionally, the data collected in this process is publicly available as downloadable files in our GitHub repository. Our research also provides valuable insights into security trends and patterns within these marketplaces, shedding light on the activities taking place within these clandestine networks.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Vibhute M., Gutierrez N., Radivojevic K. and Brenner P. (2025). Multimodal Web Agents for Automated (Dark) Web Navigation. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 1: ICAART; ISBN 978-989-758-737-5, SciTePress, pages 437-444. DOI: 10.5220/0013171600003890

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icaart25,
author={Mrunal Vibhute and Neol Gutierrez and Kristina Radivojevic and Paul Brenner},
title={Multimodal Web Agents for Automated (Dark) Web Navigation},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 1: ICAART},
year={2025},
pages={437-444},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013171600003890},
isbn={978-989-758-737-5},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 1: ICAART
TI - Multimodal Web Agents for Automated (Dark) Web Navigation
SN - 978-989-758-737-5
AU - Vibhute M.
AU - Gutierrez N.
AU - Radivojevic K.
AU - Brenner P.
PY - 2025
SP - 437
EP - 444
DO - 10.5220/0013171600003890
PB - SciTePress