Darknet Diaries is an investigative podcast created by Jack Rhysider (), chronicling true stories about crackers, malware, botnets, cryptography, cryptocurrency, cybercrime, and Internet privacy, all subjects falling under the umbrella of "tales from the dark side of the Internet".
Launched in October 2017, episodes average around 30 minutes to an hour, each covering a single topic through original interviews, audio footage, and Rhysider's narration. The show's journalistic style has received widespread acclaim.
Production For the first 40 episodes, Rhysider was responsible for all of the research, writing, narrating, editing, sound design, publishing, marketing, and logistics. Later on, due to a passionate cult following, Rhysider was able to enlist the help of additional writers, researchers, editors, and graphic designers.
By December 31, 2018, Darknet Diaries had amassed more than 1.2 million downloads. In 2019 alone, it had more than 8.2 million downloads.
Impact and real-life influences Episode 17 ("Finn") was adapted and featured on the WNYC Studios podcast Snap Judgment.
Episode 32 ("The Carder") uncovered information about the criminal actions and subsequent investigation of Roman Seleznev.
Episode 27 ("Chartbreakers") was highlighted for its investigation into the manipulation of the Apple Podcasts Top Charts through a vast industry termed as "dark podcast marketing". Rhysider received and then subsequently released photos of the promoters themselves.
Crossovers and appearances Rhysider has made appearances on a variety of other programs, the most notable being Snap Judgment and the Lit Hub/Podglomerate Storybound.
Other podcast appearances include Smashing Security, The Many Hats Club, Brakeing Down Security, The Word From Mouth, InfoSec ICU, The Cyberwire, Podcast Business Journal Spotlight, Overnight America, Aidan Wheller Podcast and Audio Reviews, Getting into InfoSec, Grimerica, Cyber Speaks Live, and Chartable Radio.
Episodes No.TitleSubject(s)Guest(s)DurationRelease date1The Phreaky World of PBX Hacking0:14:01September 1, 20172The Peculiar Case of the VTech HackerVTech: 2015 data breach0:23:20September 15, 20173DigiNotar, You are the Weakest Link, Good Bye!Gervase Markham0:25:44October 10, 20174Panic! at the TalkTalk Board Room0:38:23October 15, 20175#ASUSGATEKyle Lovett0:25:07November 1, 20176The Beirut Bank Job0:29:19November 15, 20177Manfred (Part 1) Cheating in online games0:23:16December 1, 20178Manfred (Part 2)0:28:08December 1, 20179The Rise and Fall of Mt. Gox0:28:53December 15, 201710Misadventures of a Nation State Actor0:33:25January 1, 201811Strictly Confidential0:19:32January 15, 201812Crypto WarsCrypto WarsCindy Cohn0:28:30February 1, 201813Carna BotnetCarna botnet0:33:18February 15, 201814#OpJustinaLou Pelletier0:25:21March 1, 201815Ill Tills0:33:21April 1, 201816EijahAACS encryption key controversy0:35:40May 1, 201817Finn0:45:19June 3, 201818Jackpot0:21:05July 1, 201819AuroraOperation Aurora0:30:29August 1, 201820mobmanSub7mobman0:46:23August 15, 201821Black Duck Eggs0:28:19September 1, 201822Mini-Stories: Vol 10:39:41September 15, 201823Vladimir LevinVladimir Levin (hacker)0:28:22October 1, 201824Operation Bayonet0:39:12October 15, 201825AlbertoAlberto Hill0:42:35November 1, 201826IRSDisclosure of information and theft of $50 million from the IRS0:35:21November 15, 201827ChartbreakersManipulation of Apple Podcasts rankings0:47:14December 1, 201828Unit 8200Unit 82000:48:35December 15, 201829StuxnetStuxnetKim Zetter0:41:06January 8, 201930ShamoonShamoon0:35:21January 22, 201931Hacker Giraffe0:56:02February 5, 201932The CarderRoman Seleznev0:39:29February 19, 201933RockYouRockYou 2009 data breach0:40:33March 5, 201934For Your Eyes Only0:51:54March 19, 201935CarbanakCarbanak0:40:14April 2, 201936Jeremy from Marketing1:01:14April 16, 201937LVS0:28:23April 30, 201938Dark Caracal0:54:44May 14, 2019393 Alarm Lamp Scooter0:50:24May 28, 201940No Parking1:00:28June 11, 201941Just Visiting0:49:16June 25, 201942Mini-Stories: Vol 20:54:15July 9, 201943PPP1:00:51July 23, 201944Zain0:34:46August 6, 201945Xbox Underground (Part 1) Xbox Underground1:19:19August 20, 201946Xbox Underground (Part 2)1:22:29September 3, 201947Project RavenProject Raven1:01:49September 17, 201948Operation Socialist0:48:40October 1, 201949ElliotElliot Alderson0:47:17October 15, 201950Operation Glowing Symphony1:11:10October 29, 201951The Indo-Pak Conflict0:46:49November 12, 201952Magecart0:48:05November 26, 201953Shadow BrokersThe Shadow BrokersJake Williams0:50:04December 10, 201954NotPetyaPetya (malware)Andy Greenberg0:57:01December 24, 201955Noirnet0:17:37December 25, 201956JordanJordan Harbinger0:44:10January 7, 202057MS08-067ConfickerJohn Lambert0:58:32January 21, 202058OxyMonster1:00:42February 4, 202059The Courthouse1:20:52February 18, 202060dawgyg0:43:08March 3, 202061Samy1:01:11March 17, 202062Cam1:01:56March 31, 202063w0rmerHiginio Ochoa, also known as w0rmer0:56:55April 14, 202064The Athens Shadow Games1:14:44April 28, 202065PSYOPPsychological warfareJon Nichols 1:13:55May 12, 202066freakyclown0:53:47May 26, 202067The Big House0:40:54June 9, 202068TritonTriton (malware)Julian Gutmanis, Naser Aldossary, Marina Krotofil, Robert M. Lee1:11:48June 23, 202069Human HackerSocial engineeringChristopher Hadnagy1:04:50July 6, 202070Ghost Exodus0:56:45July 21, 202071Information Monopoly (formerly called FDFF)Yeonmi Park, Alex Gladstein1:08:16August 2, 202072Bangladesh Bank HeistBangladesh Bank robbery0:36:47August 16, 202073WannaCryWannaCry ransomware attackJohn Hultquist, Matt Suiche0:44:51September 1, 202074MikkoMikko Hyppönen of F-Secure1:09:28September 15, 202075Compromised CommsJenna McLaughlin, Zach Dorfman0:35:07September 29, 202076Knaves Out2014 JPMorgan Chase data breach1:25:10October 13, 202077Olympic Destroyer2018 Winter Olympics hackAndy Greenberg0:47:02October 27, 202078NerdcoreNerdcoreYTCracker, Ohm-I, and Dual Core1:18:08November 10, 202079Dark BasinMatthew Earl, John Scott-Railton, Adam Hulcoop0:56:18November 24, 202080The Whistleblower0:50:10December 8, 202081The Vendor1:17:59December 22, 202082Master of PwnPwn2Own1:05:09January 5, 202183NSA CryptologistsMarcus J. Carey, Jeff Man1:22:56January 19, 202184Jet-setters1:12:20February 2, 202185Cam the CarderCam Harrison, also known as "kilobit"1:16:34February 16, 202186The LinkedIn Incident2012 LinkedIn Hack0:55:00March 2, 202187Guild of the Grumpy Old Hackers0:50:30March 16, 202188Victor0:42:43March 30, 202189Cybereason: Molerats in the CloudCybereason0:57:35April 6, 202190JennyJenny Radcliffe1:11:29April 13, 202191webjediAmélie Koran, also known as webjedi0:58:57April 27, 202192The Pirate BayThe Pirate BayPeter Sunde1:46:13May 11, 202193KikCSAM controversy on Kik1:34:18May 25, 202194Mariposa BotnetMariposa botnetChris Davis0:44:08June 8, 202195Jon & Brian's Big Adventure1:16:25June 22, 202196The Police Station Incident0:55:39July 6, 202197The Pizza Problem0:47:49July 20, 202198Zero Day BrokersMarket for zero-day exploitsNicole Perlroth0:50:13August 3, 202199The Spy1:13:44August 17, 2021100NSOPegasus, NSO Group1:12:53August 31, 2021101LoteríaPuerto Rico Lottery1:12:57September 28, 2021102Money MakerFrank Bourassa1:21:52October 12, 2021103Cloud Hopper0:52:25October 26, 2021104Arya1:19:41November 9, 2021105Secret CellsJoseph Cox1:12:41November 23, 2021106@Tennessee0:47:39December 7, 2021107Alethe0:57:18December 21, 2021108Marq0:48:21January 11, 2022109TEAMPOISONTeaMp0isoNMLT1:00:07January 25, 2022110Spam BotnetsRustock botnet, Waledac botnet, Cutwail botnet1:11:39February 8, 2022111ZeuSGameover ZeuS0:48:35February 22, 2022112Dirty Coms1:31:00March 8, 2022113Adam0:54:13March 22, 2022114HDMetasploitH. D. Moore1:18:03April 5, 2022115Player Cheater Developer Spy0:40:42April 19, 2022116Mad Dog1:15:54May 3, 2022117Daniel the Paladin2015 TalkTalk data breachDaniel Kelley (hacker)1:11:41May 17, 2022118Hot Swaps1:28:04May 31, 2022119Hot WalletsGeoff White0:57:24June 14, 2022120Voulnet0:32:45June 28, 2022121Ed0:41:51July 26, 2022122Lisa0:49:19August 23, 2022123Newswires0:49:02September 6, 2022124Synthetic Remittance0:19:50September 20, 2022125Jeremiah0:49:14October 4, 2022126REvilREvil1:03:53October 18, 2022127MaddieProject ZeroMaddie Stone0:54:04November 1, 2022128Gollumfun (Part 1 of 2)Counterfeit Library, ShadowCrewBrett Johnson, also known as Gollumfun1:01:00November 15, 2022129Gollumfun (Part 2 of 2) 1:18:48November 29, 2022130Jason's Pen TestJason Haddix0:45:36December 13, 2022131Welcome to VideoEpisode about the Welcome to Video caseAndy Greenberg1:10:08December 27, 2022132Sam the VendorSam Bent, also known as DoingFedTime1:19:23April 4, 2023133I'm the Real ConnorConnor Tumbleson0:42:48May 2, 2023134DeviantDeviant Ollam1:30:46June 6, 2023135The D.R. Incident0:46:02July 4, 2023136Team XecuterTeam Xecuter1:28:08August 1, 2023137PredatorPredator (spyware) - Episode expands on and relates to the article Flight of the Predator1:10:46September 5, 2023138The Mimics of Punjab0:48:18October 3, 2023139D3f4ult1:21:49November 7, 2023140Revenge Bytes1:28:52December 5, 2023141The Pig Butcher0:59:27January 2, 2024142AxactAxact0:56:30February 6, 2024143Jim Hates ScamsJim Browning (YouTuber)1:09:54March 5, 2024144RachelRachel Tobac1:05:46April 2, 2024145ShannenShannen Rossmiller1:05:43May 7, 2024146AnomOperation Trojan ShieldJoseph Cox1:07:47June 4, 2024147TornadoTornado Cash, Axie Infinity1:15:21July 2, 2024148Dubsnatch1:32:34August 6, 2024149Mini-Stories: Vol 30:51:22September 3, 2024150mobman 2Episode refers back to Episode 20 (mobman) to revisit the sub7 malware story.0:46:20October 1, 2024151Chris Rock1:01:02November 5, 2024152Stacc Attack0:56:07December 3, 2024153Bike IndexBike Index1:04:19January 7, 2025154Hijacked Line1:09:58February 4, 2025155KingpinJoe Grand, also known as Kingpin1:12:03March 4, 2025156Kill list 1:06:41March 18, 2025157Grifter1:21:36April 1, 2025158MalwareTechMarcus Hutchins, also known as MalwareTech1:06:23May 6, 2025159VastaamoVastaamo data breachJoe Tidy0:54:06June 3, 2025160GregGreg Linares, also known as Laughing Mantis1:41:08July 1, 2025161mg1:15:22July 15, 2025162HieuHieu Minh Ngo1:37:08August 5, 2025163OlaOla Bini1:26:22September 2, 2025164Oak Cliff Swipers1:31:28October 7, 2025165TanyaTanya Janca0:47:37November 4, 2025166MaxieMaxie Reynolds1:04:53December 2, 2025167ThreatlockerEpisode sponsored by Threatlocker.Hunter Clark, Danny Jenkins0:49:16December 23, 2025168LoDFirst part of a two part story on Legion of Doom. 1:20:58January 6, 2026169MoDMasters of Deception (MoD) 1:09:47January 20, 2026170PhrackPhrack magazine0:48:34February 3, 2026171Melody Fraud1:13:01March 3, 2026172SuperboxSuperBoxD3ada551:31:04April 7, 2026173Tarjeteros0:41:25April 21, 2026174Pacific RimAndrew Brandt, Craig Jones1:34:07May 5, 2026175Bayrob1:39:49June 2, 2026176NSLNational security letters, American Civil Liberties Union v. AshcroftNicholas Merrill, Cindy Cohn1:09:56July 7, 2026177National Public Data2024 National Public Data breach, Identity theft0:47:42July 21, 2026178Ubiquiti0:36:07August 4, 2026179The Courthouse - RevisitedThis is a follow up to the events that happened in Episode 59 - The Courthouse. Also worthy of note this episode marks exactly 9 years of Darknet Diaries to the day. 1:38:03September 1, 2026
Reception When describing the show's style and presentation, various media outlets have drawn comparisons between Reply All and This American Life, with The Irish Times writing, "Darknet Diaries is...where storytelling is mixed with investigative techniques to provide a strong narrative with real people at its core." The New York Times wrote, "Though the episodes are often startlingly short, condensing stories into 30 minutes that could easily justify a full hour, Rhysider’s hypnotic narration and deep expertise creates results that are never less than gripping."