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Hello and welcome to this new article. Today I will take you on a journey to discover two hidden areas of the web: the Deep and the Dark Web! You may have already heard these two names, but you should know that they are often confused and considered the same thing. However, the Deep Web and the Dark Web have very different purposes and characteristics. In this article, we will explore the differences between the two and discover how it is possible to access them. So, take a seat and get ready to explore these two worlds with me!
Surface Web, Deep Web and Dark Web
Before diving into the heart of the article, we need to take a step back and first define what the Surface Web is. With the term Surface Web, we refer to that part of the web that contains all those sites we use every day and that are easily accessible through traditional search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others. This part of the web is easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection and includes websites of government organizations, companies, universities, e-commerce, social networks, and many others. Conversely, all websites that are not indexed by traditional search engines make up the infamous Deep Web. The Deep Web is often mistakenly associated with a dark place where illegal activities take place. In reality, in those cases, it is simply confused with a sub-part called the Dark Web. As you can see, the definition I have given you is far from scary, and in fact, you unknowingly browse the Deep Web every day. Think about when you access your favorite social network profile or your personal email. Those pages are not accessible by searching on a search engine. In fact, to access them, you must go through an authentication procedure that requires a username and password that only you know. No one else, except you and those who know your password, can access those pages. According to estimates, over 90% of web pages can be found within the Deep Web. In comparison, the Surface Web is only a tiny fraction. The Dark Web, on the other hand, as I mentioned earlier, is a subset of the Deep Web, a part of the latter that is only accessible through specific tools or authorizations. These tools generally allow for a good level of anonymity, and precisely for this reason, they are often abused to carry out illegal activities without being traced.
Before delving into the Dark web topic, it’s worth noting that many illegal activities also take place on the Surface web itself. For instance, there are websites offering pirated content, violent material, and even hacking services. However, these sites are often monitored and removed by authorities without much difficulty. In fact, on the Surface web, it’s relatively straightforward to track down and eliminate such services. Of course, there are various techniques that allow certain sites to hide and remain accessible for extended periods on the Surface web. Nonetheless, generally speaking, it’s challenging to find heavily illegal activities there. These activities require additional precautions from cybercriminals who must necessarily exploit more sophisticated mechanisms to protect their operations.
Before explaining what I mean by heavily illegal activities, let’s first understand the software that enables the creation of a completely hidden website. There are several methods, but the most famous and widely used is undoubtedly Tor.
The Onion Router (Tor)
Tor, an acronym for “The Onion Router”, is a network system that facilitates secure and anonymous internet browsing. It utilizes encryption to safeguard the privacy of both website creators and users who want to browse while concealing their identities. The entire system relies on a network of nodes, also known as “relays”, which anonymously direct internet traffic towards the final destination. Anonymity is achieved by subjecting data to multiple layers of encryption, encapsulating them within a sort of cryptographic “onion”. The mechanism isn’t straightforward, and there are many considerations to take into account. Since I don’t want to digress, if you’d like to delve deeper, I recommend an article I’ve written on the subject, which you can find at this link. What’s relevant for our discussion on the Dark web is that using Tor can make it exceedingly difficult to trace both the individuals utilizing a specific service, the individuals behind that web service, and the server hosting the service itself.
What can you find on the Dark Web?
As you may have gathered, Tor is currently one of the best and most widely used tools for achieving anonymity on the internet. Unfortunately, this anonymity is often exploited to fuel a real black market where just about anything can be traded. Just to give you some examples, you can find sites on the Dark web that sell weapons, all kinds of drugs, stolen credit cards, fake documents and stolen personal data. If you were appalled by the last few items, then skip to the next sentence because on the Dark web you can also find websites where you can commission murders, request various human services, and unfortunately even sites where you can find child pornography. There are even those who tell of the existence of so-called “red rooms”. Red rooms are supposedly events where you can pay to witness live streaming of torture, violence, and murders, often for sexual purposes. Obviously, when it comes to payment, it doesn’t mean using traditional traceable payment systems; we’re talking about Bitcoin or other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Monero. (I would like to remind you that although Bitcoin is used for many illegal activities, it was not created for that purpose and should not be associated solely with them. I recommend reading the article I wrote about it if you want to learn more, you can find it at this link)
Well, I suppose you have an idea of what we’re talking about. Of course, there are definitely some macabre websites on this part of the web, but it’s necessary to make a few clarifications. First of all, it’s important to specify that most of the stories circulating on the Dark web are created for sensationalism. Often, a lot of tales are made up about it, sometimes exaggerating just to fuel the phenomenon and get some more views. Although the technologies allow it, it’s very likely that the services offered on the Dark web are actually scams or attempts to spread malware or other cyber threats. Think about it: imagine being in front of one of these illegal sites, both you and the site operator are protected by advanced encryption systems that make you anonymous, the payment you should make to use these services is in Bitcoin which, by default, is untraceable and whose transactions cannot be reversed. Are you really sure you would receive the requested service? Isn’t it more likely that the site owner would take your Bitcoin and leave you with nothing? Because, think about it, after he has scammed you, what could you do to him? Would you want to try to report him to the police? How would you explain why you were trying to buy those illegal things? Or would you want to try to personally track down the owner to “give him a piece of your mind”? If you have understood how Tor works, you should know that it’s extremely difficult to do. Especially with regard to red rooms, theoretically, it would be possible to stream on the Dark web since the Tor network supports multimedia data traffic such as video. However, it’s important to note that the connection speed on the Tor network is often much slower than that of the normal internet due to the different layers of encryption applied to the data. This could make streaming real-time video content very difficult, if not impossible. Now, with these clarifications, I certainly don’t want to downplay the phenomenon: unfortunately, not all sites on the Dark web are scams, and there are those who actually offer these things as services. What I wanted you to understand, however, is that you have to be extremely careful when navigating in this world and that, despite all the stories you hear around, it’s not so easy to find a website that actually provides what it says it offers.
It’s important to mention that the Dark web isn’t just that. First and foremost, it’s crucial to understand that the Dark web itself isn’t illegal, and the utilization of anonymity tools like Tor originated for different purposes: primarily for reasons of online privacy and security. Many activists, journalists, non-governmental organizations, and regular people use the Dark web to communicate securely and protect their identity. Additionally, the Dark web is often used by people living in countries where Internet access is limited or censored. For example, Chinese citizens can use the Dark web to access information and content that has been censored by the Chinese government. There are also communities in the Dark web that are dedicated to legitimate purposes such as encryption and cybersecurity. For instance, there are forums where cybersecurity experts discuss system vulnerabilities and share information on best practices for protecting online privacy and security. Even in these cases, however, you need to know where to look.
That being said, I hope it’s clearer now what the difference between the Deep web and the Dark web is. Before saying goodbye, I want to emphasize that this article is not an invitation to download Tor and visit the Dark web, but rather, based on what we’ve discussed, I strongly advise against it, especially if you have little experience in the field of computer science. Thank you for reading this far, goodbye!