Have you ever heard of the so-called "dark internet"? This may come across as quite enigmatic if that's the case. It is, as you suspected. However, we can significantly reduce this risk.

 

On the dark web, users may communicate anonymously by routing their messages via several servers and encrypting them along the way.

 

Given the widespread use of the dark web by people who don't want their activities to be known by the authorities, you might be surprised to hear that it was conceived and prototyped by researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Lab, scientists who'd already recognized that the open Internet was highly susceptible to surveillance.

 

After years of development, the Tor Network became online in 2002, making the dark web accessible to a broader audience. Even if Tor Browser was launched six years later to make navigating the black web somewhat simpler, CSO Magazine recently highlighted that it is still "unpredictable, unreliable and maddeningly sluggish." However, it is difficult to determine whether Tor's user base continues to expand. Tor claims to have thousands of servers and millions of users.


What happens on the dark web?

 

That group of individuals is engaged in some kind of activity. Even if they're simply playing chess online, some individuals feel very passionately about their privacy and want to hang out someplace they can't be seen. Others want to communicate in an unrestricted manner, free from the interference of governments they see as oppressive. For example, Tor claims that during the Arab Spring protests in 2010, activists extensively utilized its network. Many media and human rights groups offer SecureDrop on the Tor Network to assist sources and whistleblowers to securely transmit sensitive data.

 

Many of the most well-known dark web illegal sites have been removed. In 2015, the federal authorities shut down Ross Ulbricht's (a.k.a. Dread Pirate Roberts) Silk Road bazaar for illicit products. Now that he's in jail, Ulbricht faces accusations of money laundering, conspiracy, narcotics possession, and computer hacking.) Federal authorities in the United States busted fentanyl and other deadly illicit drug trafficking network in 2018, selling their wares on sites like the now-defunct AlphaBay. Wall Street Market (WSM) and Valhalla Market (VM) were taken down by international police in May of 2019. (a.k.a. Silkkitie).


a location where criminal activity is prevalent

 

How much of the dark web is used for illicit purposes? A titanic effort was undertaken in 2016 by Daniel Moore and Thomas Rid to learn the answer to this question. A total of 5,205 sites were found, with almost half (48%) seeming to be dormant and devoid of content. More than half of individuals who appeared to be active were engaged in illegal activity, hosting a broad range of illegal operations.

 

Apparently, 423 sites that sell or manufacture illicit medications, including prescription medicines acquired illegally, are at the top of the list. Approximately 327 websites seem to have made it easier for criminals to commit financial crimes, including money laundering and counterfeiting. More than one hundred and forty extremist-supporting websites were uncovered by Moore and Rid, including how-to manuals and extremist message boards. It was discovered that 122 websites included pornography, "including child victims of abuse, animals, or materials acquired without the permission of participants." As well as lesser numbers of hacking tools and markets, the researchers discovered around two dozen sites that traded weapons and 17 sites that claimed to provide hired assassins and other forms of violent crime facilitation for hire or engagement.

 

Of course, that's only a snapshot in time; the dark web is notorious for its unpredictability. It's very uncommon for websites to come and go, particularly illicit websites operated by criminals who often change locations to avoid detection by the authorities (and sometimes unhappy customers).

 

Having learned about the dark web and all it has to offer, how would you go about accessing it if you were to do so? To begin, download the Tor browser and set it up on your computer. There are no user-friendly names for Tor sites and services, which finish in. onion. You must search for them manually since traditional search engines like Google won't discover them. Instead, use a dark web search engine such as Ahmia, which has been specifically designed for this purpose.

 

If you decide to explore the dark web, be sure to use the appropriate security measures to keep yourself safe. As a result, you should avoid accessing the black web unless you've educated yourself on its contents thoroughly. You should also, as usual, make use of robust security features like those included in Sophos Home Premium to keep yourself secure when accessing the Internet.


Dark web versus deep web

 

Also, the "deep web" should not be confused with the "black web." It depends on who you ask, but generally, when people talk about the "deep web," they mean all the web content you can't find using a search engine. This includes a lot of legitimate content generated on the fly when you go to a website and make a request that forces the site to use its own databases and tools or requires authentication before it can be accessed.

 

Chances are, you create a lot of "deep web" material yourself. For example, if you use Gmail or Hotmail for your email, all of your messages are stored on the deep web, and you don't want anybody else to see them. The deep web has a lot more content than the public web, which should be no surprise. Due to the vastness and ephemerality of the deep web, researchers and historians are likely to miss out on crucial data.


Related: What is a internet ? | How the Internet works ?