After years of  endless toiling , you have finally tech- savvy enough to navigate through the internet via any internet powered device. You can access any information on many websites on various search engines through a few Key strokes. So now you think you are prepared to investigate the dark net to find out what lingers in the dark alleyways of the internet. If that’s the case, well, a few things you should know.

There exists internet underneath the normal surface websites that is hidden from the view of ordinary internet users.  This is what many people refer to as the deep web. Not to be confused with dark net or dark web. By definition, the Deep web is the parts of the World Wide Web that are not indexed by standard web search for no reason.

The Deep web vs The Dark Web/Net

The Deep web is actually not as sinister as many people purport it to be.  Many of the deep web sites contain data from large databases, libraries, and member’s only websites that are not available to the general public. It’s mainly composed of academic resources from various universities.  It is unavailable because it uses alternative search engines for access through but the data being un-indexed cannot be comprehensively searched. The main search engines used on deep web include TorSearch, Deep Web technology, Freenet and Ahmia.fi

The Dark net which is a small part of the Deep web is however  a different story altogether. The Dark net has its contents on overlay networks that use the internet but require specific software, configurations or authorization to access. Many people consider the Dark Net the digital nexus of villainy, criminal activity and political conspiracy where people around the world conduct encrypted businesses away from watchful eyes.

Unlike popular belief, accessing the Dark net is actually easy.  There are various ways  for accessing the dark net especially for the tech-experts .However with services such as Tor it can be as simple as installing a new browser. The TOR browser can be used to surf the web anonymously protecting against everything from hackers to data mining efforts by the government.  The web addresses don’t even look like typical URL, an example to a hidden address is http://gsjhgjkcdsbkhjvdhj.onion/.  Without Tor installed you cannot access the website.

The useful side

The Dark Net is a popular meeting place for journalists and political bloggers.  It features some hosting sites for images, files, blogs and discussion forums. Individuals who live within closed and strict societies facing extreme censorship and political imprisonment can use the dark net to communicate to outside societies.

The anonymity provided allows people like whistleblowers and information-leakers to communicate with sources and publish information freely without fear of retribution. The anonymity also allows news readers to access information from the surface web that is normally hidden or blocked.

Activists and revolutionaries also use the Dark Net to organize themselves without fear of giving away their plans and positions to the governments or groups they oppose.  This is mainly due to the rising concerns about data snooping and data mining continue to grow.

The Dark net played a big role in the early development of the popular digital currency- bitcoin. Many of the websites contain useful tools and resources on investing in crypto currencies like bitcoin and other Initial coin offerings (ICOs) .

The Ugly side

The Dark Net’s large criminal enterprises are well known. These network sites have made the headlines for one reason on another but mostly illegal. Many people think that one can buy anything from the most illegal weapons to assassinations in the dark net sites.  However the most commonly traded illegal items are hacked PayPal accounts, drugs, passports and other IDS

The Dark Net also creates a platform for hackers and ill-intentioned people where they discuss the various topics such as cyber security and political conspiracies. Most of the trade secrets, proprietary information from corporations and governments that has been hacked over the years is always circulating in the dark net. This information ends up being used to leverage people for various illegal and off the books favors.

The Dark Net is popular for shady dealings because it offers a level identity security that the surface web cannot offer. That’s why criminals looking to hide their identities and avoid detection are always drawn to the dark net.  The ability to trade in crypto currencies such as bit coin also makes it possible for Black markets to thrive. The privacy and anonymity of crypto currencies has made the m the ideal choice for transactions in the Dark Net.

If you may be contemplating to  ‘take a peek’ at  the dark net .You should know that there are reasons why those things are sold anonymously no matter what kind of site you are in , whether selling pornography or Blocked news content. It may not be illegal to browse through the dark net; however buying something from it is illegal because you’re either knowingly purchasing stolen or illegal goods.

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