When it comes to the internet, most of us are familiar with the surface web – the part that is indexed by search engines and easily accessible through traditional browsers like Chrome or Firefox. However, there is a whole other side to the internet known as the dark web. Accessing this mysterious and often misunderstood realm requires special tools and precautions.
You’ve no doubt heard talk of the “dark web” as a hotbed of criminal activity — and it is. Researchers Daniel Moore and Thomas Rid of King’s College in London classified the contents of 2,723 live dark web sites over a five-week period in 2015 and found that 57% host illicit material. With regard to online marketing, no serious website should go near Darknet websites and link them via onion links or refer to it in any way. Similar to pornographic content in the traditional Internet, it is to be feared that search engines view such activities as bad neighborhood and downgrade the linking site in the ranking. The dark web refers to a collection of hidden sites that aren’t indexed by search engines and can only be accessed through special authorization, browsers, or software. It is technically not illegal to access the dark web through the Tor browser.
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What is the Dark Web?
There are many different privacy networks, however, in this post, we will focus only on the most popular one – the TOR network. This is probably going to be one of the longest posts I’ve written on 99Bitcoins, but also the most interesting of them all. If you just want to go ahead and learn how to access the Darknet, you can skip to the bottom of the post and watch the video tutorial. I’m assuming you’ve heard the terms Darknet, Dark web or Deep web before.
How To Access Dark Web Anonymously and know its Secretive and Mysterious Activities
Because it’s such a big part of internet activity, it’s worth noting how this Dark Web browser works and why it exists. Let’s say you want to go on the dark web to see what information of yours, if any, is floating around. You can install the TOR browser on your system by using a virtual private network. A VPN allows people to use a public network as if they were transmitting information on a private one. The dark web first officially appeared in the early 2000s along with the creation of Freenet, which was developed by Ian Clarke to secure users against government intervention and cyber attacks.
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The dark web is a part of the internet that is not indexed by traditional search engines and requires specific software, such as Tor, to access. It is often associated with illegal activities, but it also serves as a platform for whistleblowers, activists, and individuals seeking anonymity online.
Although it might look a little plain, Not Evil is an incredibly powerful dark web search engine that has indexed millions of hidden links and is one of the most in-depth options available. Perhaps the most notable dark web search engine is DuckDuckGo, which features as the default option when first booting up the Tor Browser and can also be used on the ‘vanilla’ internet. This is one of the few ‘mainstream’ search engines that doesn’t track your activity, so is a natural fit for the world of the dark web. You also need to understand that searching the dark web works a little differently to a regular search. You can’t just boot up Google; you’ll have to use specific darknet search engines and your dark web URLs will look noticeably different to their conventional counterparts. Sometimes updates come at the most inopportune moment and are occasionally annoying.
How to Access the Dark Web
- Download Tor: The most common way to access the dark web is through the Tor browser. This software allows users to browse anonymously and access hidden websites.
- Find .onion sites: Websites on the dark web have a .onion domain instead of .com or .org. These sites are not accessible through traditional browsers.
- Take precautions: While browsing the dark web, it is important to take precautions to protect your identity and data. Use a VPN, disable JavaScript, and avoid downloading files from unknown sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Lastly, always remember to prioritize your safety and maintain awareness of potential risks.
- Some forums offer tutorials and share knowledge about hacking or cybercrime, while others provide support networks for whistleblowers or individuals seeking refuge from oppressive regimes.
- VPN over Tor requires you to place trust in your ISP but not your VPN and is best if you want to avoid bad Tor exit nodes.
- Accessing the dark web can only be done using specific browsers, such as TOR Browser.
- While it is true that illicit activities do take place on the Dark Web, such as the sale of drugs, weapons, and stolen data, there are also legitimate uses for this hidden network.
At a minimum, users should ensure that their cybersecurity defenses are activated and up-to-date. The dark web is an unregulated and popular environment for illegal activity. As above, make sure you’re only visiting .onion sites you trust and don’t share any personal information. The name Dark Web has ominous undertones and sounds like something we should seek to avoid. Granted, criminals do gravitate towards darknet sites in order to perform unlawful activities. If you do ever find yourself on a questionable website, utilizing a good security app, such as Clario, with a built-in VPN and other useful tools is vital.
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Is it illegal to access the dark web?
One of the problems with free VPNs is that they have a poor user-to-server ratio, with too many users and not enough servers. This is not what you want when also using the Tor network, as the two in conjunction will be painfully slow. Proton VPN has decent connection speeds and has tools for giving long-distance connections a bump. Its VPN Accelerator distributes the CPU load between multiple processes in OpenVPN, and modifies the servers’ Linux stacks to shorten the normal packet processing path. An organization’s most valuable asset is its people, so threat actors leverage human weakness first to compromise an organization. IT security teams should develop and maintain a robust security awareness training program that educates users about the dangers of the dark web and its impact on business operations.
Accessing the dark web itself is not illegal, but engaging in illegal activities on the dark web is against the law.
Can I access the dark web on my smartphone?
While it is possible to access the dark web on a smartphone, it is recommended to use a secure device like a computer with the necessary precautions in place.
Exploring the dark web can be an eye-opening experience, but it is important to proceed with caution and always prioritize your safety and privacy. By understanding how to access the dark web and taking necessary precautions, you can navigate this hidden part of the internet safely and responsibly.
