DarkWeb. What is it ? What do you need to know about it?

DarkWeb. What is it ? What do you need to know about it?

Have you ever wondered about the enigmatic realm known as the dark web? In this article, we will unravel its mysteries and shed light on how to access it, as well as the intriguing contents awaiting those who venture within.

What is the dark web?

The dark web is part of the internet that isn't visible to search engines and requires the use of an anonymizing browser called Tor to be accessed.

The dark web is a part of the internet that isn't indexed by search engines. You've no doubt heard talk of the “dark web” as a hotbed of criminal activity — and it is. Researchers Daniel Moore and Thomas Rid of King's College in London classified the contents of 2,723 live dark web sites over a five-week period in 2015 and found that 57% host illicit material.

According to a 2019 study conducted by Dr. Michael McGuires at the University of Surrey, the situation has deteriorated. Dark web listings with the potential to harm enterprises have increased by 20% since 2016, accounting for 60% of all listings

You can buy credit card numbers, all manner of drugs, guns, counterfeit money, stolen subscription credentials, hacked Netflix accounts and software that helps you break into other people’s computers. Buy login credentials to a Bank of America account, counterfeit bills, prepaid debit cards, or a “lifetime” Netflix premium account. You can hire hackers to attack computers for you. You can buy usernames and passwords.

While the dark web is often associated with illegal activities, it also has a legitimate aspect. One notable example is the presence of various communities, such as a chess club or , a social network often referred to as the "Facebook of Tor."

Deep web vs. dark web: What’s the difference?

The terms "deep web" and "dark web" are sometimes used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings.

The deep web

Refers to internet content that is not indexed by search engines like Google, making it inaccessible through conventional searches. This includes paywalled content, restricted membership websites, and web pages that have intentionally blocked web crawlers from indexing.

The deep web encompasses various types of information, such as medical records, fee-based content, confidential corporate web pages, and more. Estimates suggest that the deep web constitutes a significant portion, ranging from 96% to 99%, of the entire internet. In contrast, only a small fraction of the internet can be accessed through standard web browsers, commonly referred to as the "clear web."

The dark web

Is a subset of the deep web that is intentionally hidden, requiring a specific browser—Tor—to access, as explained below. No one really knows the size of the dark web, but most estimates put it at around 5% of the total internet. Again, not all the dark web is used for illicit purposes despite its ominous-sounding name.

Dark web browser.

All this activity, this vision of a bustling marketplace, might make you think that navigating the dark web is easy. It isn’t. The place is as messy and chaotic as you would expect when everyone is anonymous, and a substantial minority are out to scam others.

Accessing the dark web requires the use of an anonymizing browser called Tor. The Tor browser routes your web page requests through a series of proxy servers operated by thousands of volunteers around the globe, rendering your IP address unidentifiable and untraceable. Tor works like magic, but the result is an experience that’s like the dark web itself: unpredictable, unreliable and maddeningly slow.

Still, for those willing to put up with the inconvenience, the dark web provides a memorable glimpse at the seamy underbelly of the human experience – without the risk of skulking around in a dark alley.

Dark web search engine

Dark web search engines do exist, but they face significant difficulties in keeping pace with the ever-changing landscape. The search experience can feel reminiscent of late 1990s web searching, where even the most reputable search engine, such as Grams, often delivers repetitive and irrelevant results to the user's query. Another alternative is utilizing link lists like The Hidden Wiki, but even these indexes frequently yield frustrating outcomes with timed-out connections and 404 errors.

Dark web websites

Dark web websites look pretty much like any other site, but there are important differences. One is the naming structure. Instead of ending in .com or .co, dark web websites end in .onion. That’s “a special-use top level domain suffix designating an anonymous hidden service reachable via the Tor network,” according to Wikipedia. Browsers with the appropriate proxy can reach these sites, but others can’t.

Dark web websites also use a scrambled naming structure that creates URLs that are often impossible to remember. For example, a popular ecommerce site called Dream Market goes by the unintelligible address of “eajwlvm3z2lcca76.onion.”

Numerous dark websites are established by scammers who continuously change their locations to evade the consequences of their actions. Even e-commerce platforms that have been operational for an extended period can abruptly vanish if the owners choose to exploit the situation and abscond with the customers' escrow funds.

Law enforcement officials are getting better at finding and prosecuting owners of sites that sell illicit goods and services. In the summer of 2017, a team of cyber cops from three countries successfully shut down AlphaBay, the dark web’s largest source of contraband, sending shutters throughout the network. But many merchants simply migrated elsewhere.

The anonymous nature of the Tor network also makes it especially vulnerable to DDoS, said Patrick Tiquet, Director of Security & Architecture at Keeper Security, and the company’s resident expert on the topic. “Sites are constantly changing addresses to avoid DDoS, which makes for a very dynamic environment,” he said. As a result, “The quality of search varies widely, and a lot of material is outdated.”

Buying and selling on DarkWeb.

The flourishing of the dark web can be attributed to the rise of bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that facilitates trusted transactions between anonymous parties. This unique feature of bitcoin has played a significant role in the growth of the dark web, just as the dark web has contributed to the expansion of bitcoin's influence, as stated by Tiquet.

While nearly all dark web commerce sites operate using bitcoin or its variants, it's crucial to recognize that conducting business in such an environment does not guarantee safety. The inherent anonymity of the dark web attracts scammers and thieves, especially when the objective involves purchasing illegal items like guns or drugs.

Dark web commerce sites share similarities with regular e-retail operations, offering features like ratings/reviews, shopping carts, and forums. However, there are significant differences, such as quality control concerns. In an environment where buyers and sellers are both anonymous, the credibility of ratings systems becomes questionable, as ratings can be easily manipulated. Even sellers with established reputations may suddenly vanish with customers' cryptocurrency, only to resurface later under a different alias.

While some e-commerce platforms provide escrow services to hold customer funds until product delivery, resolving disputes can be challenging. Communication is encrypted, and each transaction typically requires a PGP key. However, even after completing a transaction, there is no guarantee that the goods will arrive, especially considering the need to cross international borders and the increasing scrutiny of suspicious packages by customs officials. Numerous stories on dark web news sites recount instances where buyers attempting purchases have been arrested or imprisoned.

Similar to the real world, the prices for stolen data and services fluctuate in response to market dynamics.

Is the dark web illegal?

We don’t want to leave you with the impression that everything on the dark web is nefarious or illegal. The Tor network began as an anonymous communications channel, and it still serves a valuable purpose in helping people communicate in environments that are hostile to free speech. “A lot of people use it in countries where there’s eavesdropping or where internet access is criminalized,” Tiquet said.

If you want to learn all about privacy protection or cryptocurrency, the dark web has plenty to offer. There are a variety of private and encrypted email services, instructions for installing an anonymous operating system and advanced tips for the privacy-conscious.

There’s also material that you wouldn’t be surprised to find on the public web, such as links to full-text editions of hard-to-find books, collections of political news from mainstream websites and a guide to the steam tunnels under the Virginia Tech campus. You can conduct discussions about current events anonymously on Intel Exchange. There are several whistleblower sites, including a dark web version of Wikileaks. Pirate Bay, a BitTorrent site that law enforcement officials have repeatedly shut down, is alive and well there. Even Facebook has a dark web presence.

“More and more legitimate web companies are starting to have presences there,” Tiquet said. “It shows that they’re aware, they’re cutting edge and in the know.”

There’s also plenty of practical value for some organizations. Law enforcement agencies keep an ear to the ground on the dark web looking for stolen data from recent security breaches that might lead to a trail to the perpetrators. Many mainstream media organizations monitor whistleblower sites looking for news.

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