How to use the dark side of the Internet. Invisible Internet
Every day, millions of people use the benefits of the Internet. And it seems that it contains all the information available to the average user. But there is a concept of the black Internet, and few people know how to get into it. And only a few use it constantly.
What is it
The Black Internet is a hidden part of the World Wide Web. It is also called the deep Internet. But this comparison is wrong. The deep web is more secretive than the dark web, we can say that it is a lower level of hidden network that is more difficult to get into. The Darknet is simply a part of the web that is hidden from search engines. But it's easy enough to get into.
Sites on the other side operate on several principles. Some of them are not reflected in the results of a simple search engine and you can get to them by receiving a direct link. Users can access other resources only if they know the access password. Links to sites of the shadow Internet are found in a special Wikipedia.
You can get to the dark side of the web using a special Tor browser. Its network does not operate inside the simple Internet, but on top of it. All network information is encrypted and transmitted simultaneously through several servers. This makes it impossible to track the location and identity of the person who uses this network.
What is it for?
Users of the Forbidden Internet use freedom and anonymity for different purposes. But basically this part of the network makes it possible to get to blocked sites. Also on the black internet they find information hidden from the average user. News not mentioned on TV. The black market and related products are common in this network.
Peculiarities
Unlike the regular Internet, the dark Internet does not work as smoothly. Many links are unavailable. The speed is slightly lower due to permanent encryption. The pages of the darknet do not have the usual advertising and colorful designs. If the page has a more or less organized design, then it will be considered cool for the darknet. So all the conveniences of the usual Internet are completely absent in the dark. A dark screen and text - this is what the site pages on this network look like.
And also absolute anonymity may not be so absolute. The fact is that when you download a special browser to get to the other side of the network, you can stumble upon a virus. And as a result, a curious user will reveal himself instead of hiding his identity.
The hidden Internet is called hidden because it is inaccessible to the eyes of the average person, as well as search engine robots. They cannot index deep web sites. But the Tor browser has its own search engines that will help you find something with the required domain address.
Another feature of the dark internet is that all transactions are paid for in bitcoins. No other currency is currently used on that side.
What you can find useful
For the average user, there is no useful content on the dark web. Except forbidden books and other documents. There is an online library, once popular in the Russian Federation. There are gaming and entertainment portals. The Dark Web even has its own literary magazine.
The Dark Internet is mainly used by criminals, hackers and a small number of ordinary users. That side of the network attracts with its anonymity, and those who have something to hide go for complete secrecy. On the Black Internet they buy drugs, post them and look for things for which on the regular Internet they can be blocked and even imprisoned.
Instructions on how to get there
You can access the dark web from both your PC and your phone. The principles of operation and anonymity are no different when using different technologies.
From computer
How to log into the Deep Web via Tor can be found in the instructions:
Also, in order not to search for a specific site, they use a special library with addresses of sites on that side. To do this, you need to paste thehiddenwiki.org into the address bar of your browser. A page will open with links to the most popular pages on the dark web.
From phone
In order to get the opportunity to access the dark Internet using an Android phone or iPhone, you also need to download the TOP browser. Then, to find out how to get to the black Internet from your phone:
- You need to download Orbot and Fireonion from the Market;
- Launch the first application and activate VPN mode. You must select the browser through which traffic will be transmitted;
- Go to the second application and surf the shadow internet.
What is the essence of the hidden Internet?
Laws subordinate absolutely everything in human life. And some people want to be absolutely free from the oppression of government restrictions. The essence of a hidden network is to provide anonymity, which advanced users question greatly.
On the dark web, hackers and other dubious individuals conduct transactions and search for information. And ordinary users come in out of curiosity.
What to watch out for
There's a lot to be careful about on the dark web. Of course, no one will be jailed for simply entering. There is also no criminal liability for viewing prohibited content.
It turns out that in order to avoid going to jail, you are only allowed to watch. But there’s no need to do anything, find out, much less download it. There are a lot of scammers on the other side, and one careless move will allow them to get all the user’s data. At best, this is the only thing to be wary of.
Is the dark internet necessary for the average user?
An ordinary user can go to the dark web for the sake of curiosity. But the average person will not be able to find useful content there. And if he finds it and uses it, it is punishable by law. In most cases, a simple user can find the necessary information using familiar methods.
Judicial practice in black Internet cases
There are many examples of darknet users being given both suspended sentences and jail time. For example, recently, in July last year, a Russian was sentenced to 4 suspended years for buying drugs in this network. The man corresponded with a dealer of illegal substances on the darknet, and he sent a parcel with the goods after payment. But at customs it was detained and opened. As a result, the parcel arrived accompanied by law enforcement officers.
Zealous workers who found part-time work on the dark web were also imprisoned. A Russian citizen received almost 6 years of maximum security for working as a drug pawnbroker. The man found a vacancy on the darknet. There are enough vacancies there, but there is no word about honest earnings.
There are quite a lot of examples of such practice. And in most cases, illegal activities on the hidden network are tracked. Of course, small cases may not be tracked, but still practice shows that the darknet is not as anonymous as it seems.
Programs similar to Tor browser
There are other programs that provide access to the network over the network. But the most popular is the Tor browser. This popularity is justified by the fact that almost only this browser works like a regular one.
To get to the other side there is a program called FreeNet, a simple data storage. But it is possible not only to exchange data, but also to communicate. Inside the program there are chats and emails isolated from the entire Internet. Websites are also present, but they do not have such a concept on the URL address.
And also YaCy – a search engine for dark sites. I2P is currently undergoing rapid development. This network is for pure paranoids because it has the highest level of anonymity protection.
But this advantage comes with a significant drawback. If in Tor pages load quickly, then in I2P the speed is 10 times lower. Stronger data encryption overloads the computer and its processor. This has a bad effect on the quality of the equipment.
Conclusion
The dark side of the Internet is not so necessary for the average user. Everything you need can be found on a simple web.
Only part of the information contained on the Internet can be found on Google and other search engines. Data stored on the so-called “deep” and “dark web” is closed to them. This vast parallel universe serves both legal and illegal purposes.
Search engines such as Google and Yandex are the only gateways to the online world for most Internet users: anyone who needs to find something on the World Wide Web usually enters their query into the search form of one of these services and selects exactly that information , which appears in search results - and, as a rule, only sites located on the first pages of search results. But even if a web surfer had the patience to open all the thousands of links shown to him, he would only see a fraction of what is available on the Internet, because Google and other search engines are not omniscient. If someone needs to hide something on the Internet from search engines, they can easily do so.Secret societies on the Internet?
The ability to hide data from search engines is used by both the owners of regular websites and the organizers of anonymous networks that partly make up the so-called “dark web” - segments of the global global network not connected to the Internet. The idea behind anonymous user networks is similar to the concept of secret societies and real-world Masonic lodges. By the way, in itself it has nothing to do with illegal activity. The principle is simple: anyone who is personally acquainted with at least one member of the lodge can be invited to general meetings of all members. They take place in publicly accessible places, but only the initiated know what exactly is happening, when and where. On the Internet it looks like this: Anonymous networks use the same technologies as other online services: web pages, email, file sharing. In principle, they could be available to everyone - but only if that "everyone" uses certain software and knows what and who they need to find.
Anonymous networks originated as a response from the computer community to the excessive zeal of copyright holders and authorities to limit the distribution of digital content and information back in the late 90s of the last century and have been constantly improved since then. After law enforcement agencies around the world turned their attention to file-sharing services and began to pursue their most active participants, the owners of such resources began to look for ways to continue their activities without hindrance and developed a hidden analogue of decentralized peer-to-peer networks (Peer-to-Peer, P2P, “equal to equal"), such as Napster, EDonkey or BitTorrent.
In P2P file-sharing networks, there are usually central servers called trackers, which allow all users to find each other and exchange MP3 files, videos, programs, images and any other information in digital form - naturally, without worrying about copyrights and other related legalities details. There are no such servers in anonymous networks - all information is stored distributedly on user computers.
Anonymous networks and the dark web
In most cases, information located on the “dark web” cannot be accessed via the Internet, since such segments of the global Network may not have a connection to it at all. To get into anonymous networks, you will need to install special software, which is included on the CHIP DVD.
ANts P2P written in the Java programming language and allows anyone to anonymously share files. Traffic is exchanged not directly, but through several intermediary nodes. Each Ants P2P participant knows only the address of the neighboring computer, so it is impossible to find out who is transferring the file and where. Transmitted data is encrypted using the AES algorithm for greater security.
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Purpose: anonymous file sharing. Website: antsp2p.sourceforge.net
Bitmessage is designed for exchanging securely encrypted messages and was conceived as an alternative to email and other instant messengers, the data from which can end up in the hands of intelligence services at any time. The architecture of Bitmessage is similar to the architecture of the Bitcoin network, designed for the exchange of funds, but is optimized for the transmission of messages. Exchange is possible not only between individual users, but also between groups. After Edward Snowden revealed information about mass surveillance of Internet users by intelligence agencies, Bitmessage became truly popular.
Purpose: anonymous exchange of funds. Website: www.bitcoin.org
Friendly exchange
Unlike the Internet, some anonymous networks are not accessible to everyone. Their creators had one goal: to avoid surveillance by the authorities, who themselves often break the law by monitoring their citizens. The anonymity system developed for this purpose attracted not only fighters for freedom of information and exchange of opinions, but also lovers of various illegal content and pirated copies.
Hidden networks created inside the Internet, by analogy with P2P, began to be abbreviated as F2F (Friend-to-Friend, “to each other”). This term was first coined in 2000 by programmer Daniel Bricklin, who became famous as the developer of the first spreadsheet for the PC. Unlike some P2P networks, they do not have central servers and users cannot share files with anyone.
To get in touch with your friends, each network member must know their addresses and have their digital business cards (certificates). For the uninitiated, there is no way to track file sharing. If your friends do not have the information you are interested in, then the anonymous mode of operation, which is supported by most existing F2F networks, will come to the rescue. In this case, it is possible to establish a connection between unfamiliar users. Computer addresses and all personal data of their owners remain secret.
Freenet as salvation from censorship
One of the most popular F2F networks is Freenet (not to be confused with the name of some Internet providers). Thanks to special software, it uses the already existing infrastructure of the World Wide Web and conventional network operators with their access to the Internet - but at the same time, it fences itself off from the traditional Network with all its might.
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Freenet is not just about sharing information between individuals. There are also classic websites within this anonymous network, but there are no URLs in the sense that Internet users are familiar with. In addition, there is an email system isolated from the Web, discussion forums (FMS and Frost) and an analogue of a social network (Sone). All information available on Freenet is stored distributed on the hard drives of users' computers in encrypted form, and a complex routing system is used to access it. All this guarantees almost complete anonymity, but imposes a number of restrictions. Compared to the Internet, the Freenet network is much slower. Some modern technologies are not yet available in it - for example, dynamic content generation using databases and scripts, which is widely used on the Internet.
The goal of the founders of the Freenet project was to create a global network where all users could remain anonymous and no one would be allowed to decide what is acceptable and what is not. This network promotes the spirit of free exchange of information and freedom of speech; Even the creators of Freenet do not have complete control over the system. In countries such as China, people especially need the free exchange of information without fear of government reprisals. Complete anonymity on Freenet and similar networks is achieved only when users come into contact with each other in an absolutely purposeful manner. But even if you allow connections with strangers, it will be incredibly difficult to identify computers exchanging information. Communication between the two partners is encrypted and is not direct. Data streams are transmitted through the computers of other users. It is extremely difficult for an outsider to trace the connections between individual participants.
Sites within Freenet remain invisible to traditional search engines and have no direct connection with the Global Network. You can only access them if you install the free Freenet software on your computer and connect to the network. Also, the personal data of their creators and the addresses of the computers on which they are located remain completely anonymous.
Over the years, the Freenet network has evolved and grown rapidly. Currently, there is a directory of freely accessible websites called Linkageddon. There is no search function, and Freenet users have to scroll through the unsorted array, encountering the most unexpected things. In addition to prohibited content, the list includes pages that offer pirated copies. Here, next to the resources that publish reliable information, you can find the page of some madman who, with pseudoscientific thoroughness, repeats all sorts of false fabrications. It is possible that the lack of censorship is widely used by someone to investigate illegal activities.
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The Frost program, running within the Freenet network, is designed for the anonymous exchange of opinions, structured like forums, and files. The graphical shell of the application resembles the cover of an email client, and the interface is translated into several languages, including Russian. Frost has the same features as the Freenet network. Website: www.freenetproject.org/frost.html
Freenet Alternatives
Invisible Internet Project(abbreviated as I2P, Invisible Internet Project) is a clone of Freenet.
This network was created to provide anonymous access to various services, including blogs, instant messaging, email, websites, file transfer services, etc. As its authors assure, the ultimate goal of the I2P project is the ability to function in harsh conditions, even under pressure from organizations with significant financial or political resources. Data transmitted over the network is encrypted, and the network itself is decentralized. You can connect to I2P networks not only from a computer, but also from smartphones or tablets running the Android system.
Purpose: multifunctional anonymous network. Website: www.i2p2.de
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Hyperboria is an experimental decentralized network based on the cjdns network protocol. Data transfer at the physical level can be carried out both using the Internet infrastructure and directly between routers, which allows you to create a global network with a mesh topology that is completely independent of the Internet. Traffic transmitted via Hyperbolia is encrypted, but the network is not anonymous - it is possible to establish both the address of the sender and the recipient of the data.
Purpose: anonymous exchange of files and messages. Website: retroshare.sourceforge.net
The Dark Web without the Shady Shenanigans
Anonymous networks don't have to be a platform for illegal activity, say Billy Hoffman and Matt Wood. Both work in the research and development department of IT giant Hewlett-Packard. In 2009, they first introduced Veiled (English: “hidden”) - new software for organizing user anonymous networks.
“We believe that anonymous networks could become much more widespread if there were no barriers for users to download, install and configure software,” says Billy Hoffman. And if anonymous networks became available to a wider audience, there would immediately be many opportunities to use them for legal purposes, experts believe.
When creating Veiled, the researchers thought about how to protect sites like WikiLeaks, which publish confidential government documents, from government pressure. Until now, the owners of the WikiLeaks project use ordinary web servers, which, due to legal or political pressure, may one day disappear from the Internet. If all their materials were distributed decentralized through an anonymous network, WikiLeaks' opponents would become windmill wrestlers, since documents circulated on anonymous networks are not stored on servers, but distributed in small parts among different users. For example, the Freenet network mentioned above works on this principle.
Researchers from HP want to simplify anonymous networks and use regular browser technology in their program to do this. Veiled works without downloading or installation on devices such as the iPhone, as well as computers running Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. At first glance, Veiled does not seem as powerful as mature and specialized software for anonymous networks, but it has all the essential functions needed for an anonymous network, including encryption of all data transmitted by participants and the ability to chat. Hoffman and Wood have prepared detailed documentation for Veiled so that other programmers can recreate their design. Veiled is good, but the two HP researchers will never publish it. The reason is a possible legal conflict with the company they work for. Nevertheless, the authors posted such a detailed presentation on the Internet that, according to Hoffman, other programmers will be able to easily develop an analogue of Veiled.
"Deep Web": more than WWW
The Dark Web is also invisible to search engines and their users, but is organized completely differently from anonymous networks. It is formed by huge databases with various information and pages of the regular Internet, which for a number of reasons are inaccessible to popular search engines. Users can access them only if they send a special request to the database or go to pages whose addresses are known to them in advance.
Now the owner of each website can determine for himself what part of his content should be included in the index of Google and other search engines, and whether it should be there at all. If the owner closes access to his resource to search robots, prohibits unregistered users from viewing pages, or does not bother to properly optimize his service, then his information will not appear in the lists of search results, even if there are links to it from tens of thousands of sites, indexed by search engines. Under normal circumstances, this would guarantee a top ranking in the SERPs. Search engines are, as it were, blind in one eye - and show their users only part of what is on the Internet.
A good example of the deep web is library directories. Although these lists of books and magazines are stored primarily on traditional web servers, access to them is only permitted after registration, which search engines cannot do. All they can do is, in a way, “look outside at the locked door” and move on. The same applies to databases with information about flights, special medical materials, various production documentation, social networks, etc. True, Google, having purchased ITA Software (a division that develops software for the transport industry, previously an independent company), decided at least the problem with air travel: American Google users can already enter search queries like “cheapest flight from New York to Las Vegas” and get results.
Sometimes owners of resources whose information should not appear on the Internet make technical errors, as a result of which confidential information ends up in search results (all this data also refers to the “deep web”). A similar incident occurred on July 18, 2011, when Yandex indexed part of the SMS messages sent from the Megafon website to subscribers of the mobile operator. As Yandex specialists subsequently explained, in the SMS sending section on the Megafon page, at the time of indexing by the search engine, there was no robots.txt file, which contains commands for the search robot. In particular, it should indicate a ban on indexing confidential sections of the site. Now this information has already been removed from the search results, but attentive users managed to save it and post it on file-sharing networks, where it is available to this day. However, this is not yet a full immersion in the “deep web”.
Stalkers of the Deep Web
Search engines such as CompletePlanet and Scirus promise to open access to the depths of the Internet. They are structured differently than Google and Yandex, and allow you to find information in databases that traditional search engines give in to. For example, CompletePlanet, according to its creators, provides access to approximately 70,000 complexly indexed databases, and Scirus will help you find information in various scientific data archives.
Their work was made possible thanks to advanced search robots (the part of the search engine responsible for collecting information on websites). In particular, they are able to generate quite meaningful queries to databases and fill out forms for the user thanks to the support of specific languages.
Traditional search engines also strive to get to the information that is on the deep Internet, which is not surprising - according to experts, it contains a thousand times more than on the surface. Google, for example, has developed a special format for site maps, thanks to which its search robots visit even those pages to which there are no links from other resources. Of course, the site owner must first create such a map. Gradually, search engines will index more and more information found on the deep web, and the line between the “surface” and “deep web” will blur. But some of it will still remain inaccessible to search - for example, paid content provided only by subscription.
First step into the deep web
You can plunge into the “deep web” even without installing special software - using special portals and search engines.
Project OAIster(oaister.worldcat.org), initiated by the University of Michigan, searches the metadata servers of more than 400 institutions around the world for documents. These are libraries, scientific organizations, journal editorial offices, etc. OAIster is of interest primarily to scientists, because it provides access to approximately 18 million data groups.
CompletePlanet(www.completeplanet.com) looks for information where Google and Yandex are unable to find it. Visitors to this search engine's site have access to more than 70,000 deep web databases and a directory of resources.
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Retrofitting the browser
To get into some of the deep web's nooks and crannies, you need to upgrade your browser. To do this, you need to install an add-on - the Tor anonymization service (www.torproject.org), which allows users to remain undetected on the Internet thanks to Onion Routing technology. Data is transmitted to the Internet through a series of constantly changing proxy servers and is encrypted. Tor can be used to anonymously access the Internet and work with both applications that use the TCP protocol and internal hidden services that make up the dark web. They can only be accessed from the Tor network. The principle may seem simple at first glance, but in reality everything is much more complicated. The dark web does not have URLs in the traditional sense. For example, the addresses of hidden pages on the Tor network are cryptographic combinations of letters and numbers with the domain name “.onion”. They change often, so you have to look for them again every time.
This text was created for informational purposes only, does not call for action and does not contain links to any sites. In addition, we remind you that the production, sale and transfer of narcotic and psychotropic substances is a criminal offense in accordance with Art. 228-231 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
What is the deep internet
The Internet that we use every day is called the “surface web” (from the English “surface web”). You don't need special tools to access it - a working connection is enough. All pages of the “surface” Internet can be easily found using any search engine, and user actions on the Internet and data about them are available to Internet providers. Accordingly, they can also be tracked by law enforcement agencies in accordance with a court decision.
In addition to the surface network, there is also the deep Internet (from the English “deep web”). You cannot find pages from the deep web using a regular search engine.- they are not indexed by search engines. Therefore, it is impossible to accurately estimate the size of this segment of the Internet.
Links to pages on the deep web work in a special .onion format, so you can’t open them with a regular browser. To access the deep network, you need special programs that preserve user anonymity and encrypt traffic.
There are still darknet is a closed network within the deep internet. The concepts of “deep web” and “darknet” are often confused, but the darknet has a fundamental difference from the usual deep network.
The deep Internet is a single network hidden from search engines, but there can be several darknets, and each of them requires special access. So, to get into each of the popular darknets - Freenet, RetroShare or I2P - you need to install separate software.
Why do we need a “hidden” Internet?
There can be many reasons for creating pages on the deep web or one of the darknets. The main advantage of closed networks compared to superficial ones is, of course, anonymity. Therefore, the hidden Internet is often used for illegal activities.
Drugs, weapons, fake documents, and even people are traded on darknet trading platforms. If desired, you can also find contacts of a contract killer on the darknet.
In addition, user data often leaks onto the dark Internet - hackers who break into databases periodically leak them into closed networks. The easiest way to pay on local markets is with cryptocurrency - again, due to the fact that it allows you to remain anonymous.
Another option for illegal activity on the darknet is distribution of pirated content. However, this won’t surprise anyone even on the “surface”. And in countries where authorities are actively pursuing piracy, the dark internet comes to the aid of lovers of free content.
The deep web and darknet have gained notoriety due to the fact that they are often used by criminals. Nevertheless, Illegal activities are not the only use of hidden networks.
There, for example, human rights activists and journalists from totalitarian and authoritarian states create their pages. On the darknet, they are not afraid of either censorship or authorities. The deep Internet is an excellent platform for the fight for freedom of speech and it can be used not only for illegal purposes.
What useful things can you find on the deep web?
The deep web isn't just about sites for criminals. We have collected several links that may be useful to ordinary law-abiding citizens.
| Libraries | After the Russian-language library “Flibust” was blocked on the surface Internet, it moved to the “depths”. There you can find thousands of books in Russian. Flibusta has its own pages on the deep web and the I2P darknet. Other well-known deep web book resources include The Verbal Hero and the Imperial Library of Trantor. |
| Rospravosudie | Database of publicly available court decisions from all over Russia. |
| Image hosting | Anonymous image hosting where you can upload jpg, png or gif files up to 20 megabytes for free. |
| Scientific articles | A deep “mirror” of the Sci-Hub portal, which allows you to download scientific articles for free. |
| Anti-censorship community | The multilingual community We Fight Censorship publishes materials that, for one reason or another, have been considered prohibited in different countries. |
| Questions and answers service | The English-language Hidden Answers service works on the same principle as Mail.ru Answers. Some users ask questions, while others answer them. The main difference from similar “superficial” platforms is the subject matter of the questions. They are mainly devoted to cybersecurity and the deep Internet. Although there are also quite ordinary thematic sections, for example, about relationships or food. |
| Search engine | If you want to search for something on the deep web yourself, you can use a system that allows you to search for working sites on the deep web. |
"" (or "The Invisible Internet") is on the rise. People are curious by nature, and therefore more and more Internet users are going to its “dark side”. Everyone knows that the Internet is an endless source of information, and search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing can quench our thirst for information with just a few keywords, resulting in huge lists of information in seconds. But did you know that most of us only have access to 4% of the World Wide Web?
We know only the tip of the iceberg: the structure of the “dark Internet”
As we said above, to better understand the “dark Internet”, it is necessary to imagine the entire Internet as an iceberg, which is divided into five parts, each of which is more immersed than the previous one.
Level 1. At the tip of the iceberg we will find all the pages that we can access using search engines. This part of the Internet is visible and accessible to “mere mortals”, and the information on it is completely traceable.
Level 2. Just below the surface of the water we will find those pages or sites that are not indexed (in other words, sites that are not visible in search engines) by traditional search engines (like Google or Yahoo). Thus, they are only accessible to those who are “in the know” about these sites.
Level 3. If we dive even deeper into the cold water, the iceberg surrounding us, then we can see information (mostly illegal) that is very difficult to find “openly”.
Level 4. As we get closer to the bottom of the iceberg, we will be able to find any type of illegal site. Most of them are monitored by the US government (eg child pornography websites).
Level 5. After going through the four levels of the “dark Internet”, we can reach the very bottom of our iceberg - the most hidden part of the Internet, known as “The Dark Net”. A haven for hackers, this part of the web is based on a set of private networks that can only be accessed by “trusted” users. This is the darkest side of the Internet: it does not follow standard protocols and it is insecure.
Tor: How to access the "dark Internet"
Each of us can access the "dark" parts of the World Wide Web, but to do this you must use alternative search engines. Tor (The Onion Router) is a free program that was developed at the US Naval Research Laboratory in the mid-90s to protect online communications of US intelligence agencies.
Tor has a multi-layer structure (hence its name) that allows the user to navigate the network from one layer to another, while the user is protected by a encryption that allows him to hide his IP address. One of the main distinguishing features of the “shadow Internet” is user anonymity.
Is it really possible to surf the web anonymously?
Industry experts say connecting via Tor can be risky. Tor does not allow the user to control the proxy they connect to, which can result in them being exposed to man-in-the-middle attacks and JavaScript infections that violate the user's privacy.
What is the Dark Web or Darknet, how does it differ from the Deep Web, and why are these two terms always confused? We decided to help you figure it out and at the same time warn you - after all, the Darknet, for all its attractiveness, accessibility and alluring spirit of freedom and permissiveness, is a very dangerous place, wandering through which can cost you quite a lot (both literally and figuratively).
What is the Dark Web?
The Dark Web is a term that refers to a group of specific websites that exist in an encrypted network space. They cannot be found by traditional search engines and cannot be reached using traditional browsers. It is also often used by Dark Net, but do not confuse it with Dark Internet (discussed below)
Almost all Darknet or Dark Web sites hide personal data using Tor encryption tools. This network (did you know, by the way, that this is an abbreviation for The Onion Router?) may be familiar to you due to its ability to hide user identification data and network activities. You can use Tor to hide your location in a way that makes it seem like you're surfing the web from a different country than where you actually are. This is very similar to how VPN services do it.
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If a website runs through Tor, it has much the same effect, and even magnifies it. Sites designated as the Tor Hidden Service are only accessible when connected to the Tor network. Simply put, if you don't connect to this network, you won't get anything.
Pseudo-suffix “Hidden Services. onion" does not work with DNS servers, and Hidden Services URLs are a 16-character alphanumeric set automatically generated using a public encryption key at the time the site is created. You can copy the Tor link and try to open it in a regular browser, but this will lead you to a dead end.
To visit a Dark Web site using Tor encryption, the Internet user will have to use Tor themselves. Just as an end user's IP address bounces through multiple layers of encryption to get to another IP address on the Tor network, the same is true for Internet sites. Each node knows only those nodes that are directly connected to it (it knows nothing about how your PC connects to the web server). Any transition from one node to another is carried out using its own set of encryption keys. This reduces performance and speed, but significantly improves the security of your anonymous movements.
There are several levels of privacy, even greater than the already secret fact that you are using Tor to visit a regular Internet site.
What follows from this? That Darknet sites can be visited by anyone, but it is extremely difficult to figure out which people are behind them. But this can become dangerous - in certain cases.
Silk Road to Oblivion and others
But not all Dark Web sites use Tor encryption. Some people use similar services, such as I2P or Silk Road Reloaded. The visitor will have to use the same decryption method that is used on the site being visited, and - what is critical - know exactly how to find this site, even to the point of manually entering a link just to visit this site.
Notorious examples of Darknet sites include Silk Road (which translates to "Silk Road") and its derivatives. Silk Road was (and probably still is) a site for buying and selling drugs "for recreational purposes" - for those who want to relax in an illegal way from time to time. This is one example of the Dark Web being used for nefarious purposes.
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The dark web made headlines in August 2015 after it was revealed that 10 GB of information had been stolen from Ashley Madison, a site designed to provide a convenient way for bored spouses to cheat on their partners, all of which was posted on the vastness of the Dark Web.
The hackers who stole the data threatened to spread it across the Internet unless the site shut down, and he has operated under that threat ever since. Now, spouses of Ashley Madison subscribers have begun to receive blackmail letters demanding the transfer of $2,500 in bitcoins - or all personal data will be made public.
In March 2015, the British government established a dedicated Dark Web Cybercrime Unit, specifically targeting organized crime and child pornography. The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the British intelligence unit GCHQ together created the Joint Operations Section (JOC) for this purpose.
But there are still completely acceptable reasons for using the Darknet. We are talking about freedom of information.
The population of closed countries with a totalitarian system can sometimes only communicate with the outside world through the Dark Web. And recent revelations of surveillance by American and British government intelligence agencies of the Internet activities of their citizens and you may lead you to the sensible idea of transferring your online communications to the Darknet. (I’ll stay on Facebook, but I just like the attention.)
What is the Deep Web?
Although the terms Deep Web and Dark Web are often used interchangeably, they are by no means equivalent. There is some nuance here. The name Deep Web generally refers to all sites that cannot be found through search engines.
Thus, the Deep Web includes not only the Dark Web, but also all user databases, mail pages, abandoned sites and personal pages, online forums with mandatory registration, and paid online content. There are a huge number of such pages, and most of them exist for the most common reasons.
For example, as an online publication, we have "mock" versions of all our web pages, blocked from being indexed by search engines, so that we can test the content and design of a publication before releasing it to the public. Therefore, every page available for public viewing on this Internet site (and literally millions of similar pages and sites) has a duplicate on the Deep Web.
The content management system in which I am preparing this article is also located on the deep web. Here you have another hidden duplicate for each page of the public site. At the same time, our working corporate network is also closed from search engines and password protected. And since all this has existed for about 20 years, our network has become quite overgrown with secret duplicates.
Do you use online access to your bank account? Your password-protected data is somewhere deep in the tenets of the Deep Web. And if you estimate how many pages a single Gmail account generates, then the true size of the “deep web” will become at least approximately clear.
This is why newspapers and popular news outlets regularly return to horror stories about the “90% of the Internet” consisting of the “dark web.” They simply confuse the risky and generally evil Dark Web with the vastly larger but largely benign ocean of the Deep Web.
At the same time, they equate with each other such actions as deliberate concealment of activities from the law and normal protection from search engine access for the sake of maintaining confidentiality or simply for banal work purposes.
What is the Dark Web?
Adding to the confusion, the term Dark Internet is sometimes used to describe the following examples of networks, databases, or even websites that cannot be found on the open Internet. In this case, this happens either for technical reasons, or because they contain some kind of private information not for public use.
The main practical difference is that the Dark Web or Deep Web are usually used by news people to refer to corners of the Internet full of dangers and hidden agendas, while the "dark web" is just boring warehouses where scientists store raw data for your further research.
But, of course, you are interested in how to get on the Darknet
Technically it's not particularly difficult. You just need to install and run Tor. Download the Tor Browser Bundle from www.torproject.org - all the necessary tools are already contained there. Open the downloaded archive, select a location on your hard drive for the files after unpacking, then open the folder and run the Start Tor Browser file. That's all, actually.
The Vidalia control panel will automatically connect to the mysterious encrypted network and, when connected, open a browser. To disconnect from the Tor network, simply close the browser.
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Depending on what you intend to do, some conspiracy theorists recommend covering your laptop's webcam with duct tape to prevent your overly nosy and tech-savvy "big brother" from spying on you. In this case, we can recommend wearing a tin foil hat at the same time.
The hardest part is figuring out where, what, and how to look on the Dark Web. This is where we leave you, reader, and wish you good luck and safe searching. And one more warning before you go any further: by logging into the Dark Web, you have a real chance of getting to all those sites that the tabloids scare us with. This means that right now you could be just a couple of clicks away from places offering drugs, weapons and - frankly - even worse.
Aggregators like Reddit offer long lists of links, as do some Wiki pages, a list that offers access to some really dirty places. If you wish, you can briefly familiarize yourself with them, but we would not recommend that you do so.
Also keep in mind: Darknet sites go down from time to time - such is their dark nature. And if good customer support is important to you, stay away from the darkness and closer to the light!
Once again, please heed our warning: this article is not an attempt to encourage or condone your further, possibly illegal or immoral behavior.