What is the dark web? How to access it

The dark web is a part of the internet that is not accessible to search engines and must be accessed with an anonymizing browser called Tor.

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

The terms black web and deep web are frequently used interchangeably. In reality, the black web is only a subset of the deep web. The deep web is what exists underneath the surface and includes more than simply dark stuff. That is why it is also known as the unseen or hidden web.

The information on the deep web is typically encrypted and is not available on indexes like it is on the standard web. It contains all of the pages that do not appear when you conduct a web search. It also includes all content that requires a login, such as stuff from:

• Online banking
• Pay websites, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime
• File hosting services, such as Dropbox and its competitors
• Private databases

The information listed on the dark web can also include anything on subscriber-only databases rather than anything illegal.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Dark Web

Advantages

The dark web allows users to protect their anonymity while freely expressing their opinions. For many innocent individuals scared by stalkers and other criminals, privacy is critical. The growing inclination of potential employers to monitor social media posts might also make it harder to engage in open and honest discussions.

Finally, the dark web’s popularity among criminals makes it an ideal medium for undercover police personnel to communicate.

Disadvantages

Some people will surely misuse the power involved with accessing the dark web by making illicit activities easier. The combination of the dark web with cryptocurrency, for example, theoretically makes it much easier to hire someone to perform certain crimes.

While the dark web guarantees users anonymity, it may equally be used to invade the privacy of others. Intimate photographs, medical records, and financial data have all been stolen and distributed on the dark web.

Is It Illegal to Access the Dark Web?

Simply simply, accessing the dark web is not illegal. In reality, certain usage are totally legal and contribute to the “dark web’s” usefulness. Users might find three distinct advantages to using the dark web:

Anonymity of the user
Services and websites that are almost untraceable
Capability to engage in criminal behaviour for both consumers and suppliers

Anyone, for example, can go to the dark web and share their ideas regarding political action without fear of criticism from government authorities or other parties.

Types of threats on the dark web

Dangerous software, or malware, is alive and well on the dark web. It is frequently supplied on some sites to provide threat actors with cyberattack tools. Yet, it remains across the dark web, infecting unwary people just like it does on the rest of the internet.

The dark web lacks many of the social contracts that website operators employ to secure users on the rest of the internet. As a result, users may find themselves constantly exposed to viruses such as:

• Keyloggers
• Botnet malware
• Ransomware

• Phishing malware

How Can You Tell Whether Your Data Is on the Dark Web?

Your banking, social media, and email accounts, as well as your Social Security number, may be available for purchase on the dark web. Try doing a search of the dark web to check if any of your information is floating around there. You may also subscribe to a dark web monitoring service.

Search engine for the dark web

There are dark web search engines, but even the best struggle to keep up with the constantly changing scene. The experience is reminiscent to web searches in the late 1990s. Even Grams, one of the strongest search engines, provides results that are repetitious and frequently unrelated to the query. Another way is to use link lists like The Hidden Wiki, however even indices produce a maddening amount of timed-out connections and 404 errors.

Websites on the dark web

Dark web websites appear to be similar to normal websites, however there are significant distinctions. The first is the naming structure. Dark web websites terminate in.onion rather than.com or.co. That’s “a special-use top level domain suffix denoting an anonymous hidden service available via the Tor network,” according to Wikipedia. These sites can be accessed by browsers that use the necessary proxy, but not by others.