There’s a seedy underbelly operating within the depths of the internet you use every day, but it’s not easy to access and you probably won’t want to
It doesn’t matter how much of a technophobe you are and how hard you try to avoid computers, there’s no escaping the internet. It’s everywhere, about as pervasive as anything you can think of in pop culture and is inextricably intertwined into society. Every company has a website, every store has an online presence and a mammoth proportion of the populace has some form of social media presence. Not having this can turn you into a social pariah; that’s just the way the world is these days.
As accessible and widespread as the internet is, however, there’s a far less open part of it hidden away. This is a darker, potentially unsafe area of the online world that isn’t as simple to access and certainly isn’t for everyone. This is called, rather suitably, the Dark Web or Dark Net, and it’s a place that has a very questionable reputation, often for good reason. Before we elaborate on these reasons, we should look at what the Dark Web actually is.
Welcome To The Dark Side
The Dark Web, not to be confused with Deep Web (see Deep And Dark) is a collection of websites, just like any others, the difference being that you can’t simply find these by mooching around on Google. Dark Web sites aren’t indexed and categorised like normal sites and won’t show up in standard search engines. Instead, these sites purposely hide themselves from easy location, and to actually visit them you need to use special means, including special software and browsers that can access them. With this software installed, the Dark Web is open to those who wish to browse its contents.
There’s a host of different tools and applications that can be used to access the Dark Web, but we should provide a very important caveat before we go any further.
We don’t advocate the use of the Dark Web including many of the services on offer. There’s a reason the Dark Web is so secretive, and this includes just about the most morally bankrupt and downright illegal content you’ll see, which we’ll elaborate on later. It’s not all like this, but it does exist, so be warned. Our aim here is to inform but not recommend, and if you do choose to explore the Dark Web, you do so at your own risk, both legally and with the obvious security concerns that come with using such questionable software and browsing such unsavoury sites. We won’t provide links for the software we cover; you’ll need to find and grab it yourself if you choose to proceed.
Now that’s out of the way, what are some of the most common ways people access the Dark Web?
Perhaps the most common and popular method of accessing the Dark Web is Tor (The Onion Router). This is an anonymity tool and encryption protocol that advertises the ability to protect you online, hiding your identity and shielding you from network surveillance and traffic analysis. Basically, by using this, it’s claimed you can do what you like online and no one will ever know about it. Tor is free, includes a browser (a modified version of Firefox) and is very easy to use. With it, people can get onto the Dark Web quickly. The software is actually legitimate and isn’t solely designed for use with the Dark Web. It’s advertised for use by family, businesses and media but is also promoted as a tool for activists and even the military and law enforcement. The latter is quite ironic, given the popular use for Tor is to access a lot of illegal services.
Tor isn’t the only tool people use. Other packages include I2P (used by the new Silk Road Reloaded, which we’ll talk about later) and Freenet, but the Tor network is pretty much central to the whole thing, and most sites on the Dark Web hide themselves using Tor encryption. The sites are publicly visible with the aforementioned software, but it’s very difficult to actually see who’s running them.
What’s Tor For?
The Dark Web is used for many different purposes, some legitimate, but often it’s a haven for illegal services and corrupt activity. The Dark Web has been shown to offer many and varied services, including a whole host of hacking services, the likes of which we’ve seen a lot lately, with attacks on high-profile companies.
However, the Dark Web is also host to much darker and more worrying services. There are reported sites based on various illegal communities, such as paedophile groups and human trafficking, firearms sales, and there are even supposed to be sites where people can fund assassinations. It’s grim, but with the internet being so prevalent in today’s world, it’s also not all that surprising. We all move with the times, and so do criminals and illegal enterprises.
A vast amount of the Dark Web revolves around drugs and drug sales. According to many reports, this is the overwhelming use for the Dark Web, followed by other activities, such as whistle blowing, financial attacks and fraud. Surprisingly, although it can be found, pornography and gambling activity is relatively low in content, although the material you do find will likely be very questionable, otherwise it would be on the normal internet.
The Dark Web is said to be used by a lot of groups to coordinate actions as well. This include activists, as we mentioned earlier, but also terrorist groups and cells. These groups make full use of the network’s ability to hide both the service and those using it from prying eyes.
As we’ve said, not all of the Dark Web is illegal. There are plenty of blogs, communities and other sites that exist, some of which simply do so because they feel the Dark Web is the only way to ensure free speech and privacy from outside snooping, so contrary to popular belief, the Dark Web isn’t solely a place for criminal activities.
Secrets And Lies
Another use for the Dark Web is whistle blowing, where people leak sensitive, often confidential information to the outside world, often to journalists. The Dark Web is used, because these informants are usually worried about revealing their identity. One of the most high-profile cases of this nature is Edward Snowden.
Snowden, who was a technical assistant for the CIA, leaked information about the NSA and its difficulty cracking emails and logs using specific encryption. This included the Tor network. He also disclosed top secret details of various intelligence and surveillance systems used by FVEY or ‘Five Eyes’. This is the partnership between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He’s currently living in Russia where he’s sought asylum, apparently looking for somewhere else to move to when his stay in Russia ends.
Hide And Seek
So if sites and services on the Dark Web are hidden and can’t be found by normal means, how do you know what you’re doing and where to go? Many users of the Dark Web use hidden wikis. Like any other wiki you’ll find online, these are sites that operates as a guide and encyclopedia to the Dark Web, and they list the various sites and access methods for each.
Wikis are often broken up into various categories, such as drugs, erotic, hosting, blogs and so on, and they list the onion addresses for various sites, which can then be entered into your Tor browser. These can be found online right through Google.
I’d Buy That For A Bitcoin
A lot of business goes on in the Dark Web, both legitimate and illegal, and with such secrecy it’s not surprising that people aren’t exactly keen to part with their real names and/or bank details. Indeed, if you plan to use the Dark Web, it goes without saying that you shouldn’t give out your real name and email address. With this in mind, a way was needed for people to pay for services and trade with others. Enter Bitcoin, the digital currency that’s become hugely popular in some circles.
Bitcoin, launched in 2009, is a digital payment system that trades virtual currency instead of real cash. This ‘crypto-currency’ is an decentralized payment system that doesn’t need an intermediary to process payments, and it’s perfect for use on the Dark Web, which is where it’s used every day and has grown to become a huge currency for the Dark Web community. It’s not only on the Dark Web where Bitcoin is used, of course. Many legitimate businesses use it, even high-street shops and cafés, but its use in criminal activity is very real, and law enforcement around the world is suitably concerned about it, and this includes its use online in the Dark Web.
Long Arm
With all this effort put into keeping things hidden and away from the mainstream, online world, the Dark Web has become a haven for many criminal activities. The encryption used and the ability for groups to communicate has made this an unavoidable fact, but users of the Dark Web aren’t as safe as they think.
Just as hackers will always find security holes in any system, no matter how cutting-edge it may be, so too will law enforcement find ways to counter it. It’s a never-ending war of attrition, and the Dark Web is no different. Many arrests have been made involving users of the Dark Web, with some highprofile cases hitting the news. One case in particular involved Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht.
Ulbricht was the person behind the popular Silk Road drug service. This provided illegal drugs to customers via the Dark Web, allowing people to buy substances anonymously. After an investigation, the FBI eventually shut down the site in 2013, and Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison. He was charged with drug trafficking, money laundering, hacking and even conspiring to murder, involving services to have people killed.
The Silk Road resurfaced as Silk Road 2.0 and was run by new owners, but more arrests followed, and the site was taken down. Other versions have appeared, including the current version, Silk Road Reloaded, which operates on I2P. It’s only a matter of time before this is taken offline, likely to be followed by further incarnations.
Wrong Side Of The Tracks
It’s clear that the Dark Web isn’t a place for everyone, and there are undoubtedly plenty of reasons to avoid it. Luckily, that’s not hard. You won’t accidentally stumble into the Dark Web, as you need the special software to access it, so you don’t have to worry when browsing the internet.
Should you venture into the Dark Web? We’d have to say no, not really. We wouldn’t advise using the Dark Web, because there’s simply no reason for most people to do so. It’s probably true that the Dark Web is no more unsafe than the normal internet in terms of security on your PC, and many stories you hear about it are often hyperbolic, but it’s also clear that the users of it and those who do business on there aren’t always good people. Would you feel safe walking through a real-world marketplace where guns, drugs and even assassination contracts were being peddled? No, of course not, even if the majority of the people selling their wares were totally legal and decent. It only takes that small percentage to make things dangerous, and the internet and its Dark Web are no different.
Deep And Dark
The terms Deep and Dark Web are often used interchangeably, but this is actually incorrect, as the two are very different. The Deep Web is simply the layer of non-indexed sites that litter the internet. These are many and varied and are mostly totally legitimate but not used on the main, ‘surface’ web for numerous reasons, often for security. This includes research and academic sites, government sites and various databases. Nothing to worry about for the most part. The Deep Web is also used to store tons of legitimate information. Bank account details and other user data is often stored here, hidden from normal access.
The actual Dark Web is the selection of Tor network services that must be accessed through special means. This is where several unsavoury places exist, and is the place that tabloid media and other outlets often talk about, spreading a lot of fear, sometimes with the wrong name in the form of the Deep Web.
To use a classic, tried-and-tested analogy, think of the internet as an ice berg. The surface or tip that’s above water is the internet we all know and use everyday. The larger, higher submerged section is the Deep Web and the bottom, deeper section that sees little to no light is the Dark Web. Most are perfectly happy to scratch around on the surface, but some are curious and want to dig deeper into that dark ice where it’s harder for people too see what’s going on.
Know Your Onions
An onion address, used by Tor, is a special type of web address that’s different to a normal DNS address (Domain Name System). Onion addresses can’t be found in the usual root of the internet’s DNS system and so don’t show up using normal software. The Onion TLD (Top Level Domain) can only be found using special software, such as the Tor browser bundle and proxy, and are accessed via the Tor network.
Ashley Madison
The website Ashley Madison has hit the news lately, and this story involves the Dark Web. For those unaware of the site, Ashley Madison is, to put it simply, a site that advertises itself to those who want to cheat on their significant others. Think of it as a dating site for people who want to play around. It’s pretty grubby and reprehensible stuff, and a hacker group apparently agreed.
This group, which calls itself The Impact Team (including an individual hacker going by the name of aNewDomain), claimed to have stolen 10GB of user data from the site and threatened to release it into the public domain if the owner of Ashley Madison, Avid Life Media, didn’t shut down the site. Avid Life refused to capitulate, and the group released the data onto the Dark Web.
The rest, as we now know, is history.