What is the Deep Web & Dark Web
The term “Darknet” refers particularly to a collection of websites that are visible and which hide the IP addresses of servers that run them. Such websites can be visited by any web user, however it is difficult to find out who is behind the sites. Furthermore, these sites cannot be found by search engines.
Almost all the Darknet sites hide their identity using the Tor (Onion Router) encryption tool. A web user can use Tor to hide his or her identity as well as spoof his or her location. So, the anonymizing effect is multiplied.
The dark network is getting more popular, and not just among common lawbreakers. You can find hacking services, drug markets, pornography, etc. For example the Silk Road, a website which was used for buying and selling recreational drugs. More than 100,000 people traded over 200 million dollars in illegal drugs on this site. However there are legitimate uses for the Darknet. People within closed, totalitarian societies can communicate with the outside world. Whistleblower sites like The New Yorker can be found on the Darknet, as well as political activism blogs or libraries of pirated books.
It’s not a difficult to access the Darknet. A user simply needs to download, install and start the Tor Browser. That's all. Once the user gets into the Darknet, he or she will be a click away from sites selling guns, drugs, personal data, credit cards and even worse things.
The Darknet e-commerce sites and forums are incredibly user-friendly. For example Silk Road drugs marketplace includes most of the features of usual legitimate sites: detailed product descriptions, hi-res images and even “report” buttons. Such websites work on a user review system, so sellers are interested to provide reliable products and services of high quality.
Not all of these sites are perfect. But the Darknet community is constantly working on improving things. For example developing payment methods to avoid unfair sellers.
Of course, the Tor browser takes more manipulations and background knowledge to operate. Most users would simply give up trying to setup and use encryption for Multisig escrow. But the experts argue, it’s only a matter of time before the Darknet markets become mainstream. They are secure, creative, censorship-free. Today there are already about two or three million global users of the Tor.
Unlike most of web users, fraudsters and cybercriminals are more than ready to use the Darknet. Which means that the Darknet will remain a perfect platform for an anonymous and lawless network, where criminals can buy and sell counterfeit goods, stolen IPs, customer data and user credentials.
More time is needed before the non-indexed websites become a part of everyday life of the masses. But now the Darknet is one of the most exciting and interesting locations on the web. Because innovation takes place not only in big businesses, but also in the fringes. And people in the fringes, the outcasts, are the most creative. One won’t find any pop-up ad or lolcat on the Darknet. That’s why it might be getting more and more popular.
References:
- Ablon, L., Libicki, M. C., & Golay, A. A. Markets for Cybercrime Tools and Stolen Data: Hackers’ Bazaar. Santa Monica, CA.: Rand Corporation, 2014.
- Barratt, M. J., Ferris, J. A., & Winstock, A. R. Use of Silk Road, the online drug market- place, in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Addiction, 109(5), 774-783, 2014.
- Bartlett, J. The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld. William Heinemann Ltd., 2015.
- Coleman, G. Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous. London: Verso Books, 2014.
- Goodman, M. Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It. New York: Random House, 2015.
- Mckinnon, A. Hacking: Ultimate Hacking for Beginners. Seattle, WA.: Amazon Digital Services, 2015.
- Schneier, B. Data and Goliath:The Hidden Battles to CollectYour Data and ControlYourWorld. NewYork: W.W. Norton and Company, 2015.
The term “Darknet” refers particularly to a collection of websites that are visible and which hide the IP addresses of servers that run them. Such websites can be visited by any web user, however it is difficult to find out who is behind the sites. Furthermore, these sites cannot be found by search engines.
Almost all the Darknet sites hide their identity using the Tor (Onion Router) encryption tool. A web user can use Tor to hide his or her identity as well as spoof his or her location. So, the anonymizing effect is multiplied.
The dark network is getting more popular, and not just among common lawbreakers. You can find hacking services, drug markets, pornography, etc. For example the Silk Road, a website which was used for buying and selling recreational drugs. More than 100,000 people traded over 200 million dollars in illegal drugs on this site. However there are legitimate uses for the Darknet. People within closed, totalitarian societies can communicate with the outside world. Whistleblower sites like The New Yorker can be found on the Darknet, as well as political activism blogs or libraries of pirated books.
It’s not a difficult to access the Darknet. A user simply needs to download, install and start the Tor Browser. That's all. Once the user gets into the Darknet, he or she will be a click away from sites selling guns, drugs, personal data, credit cards and even worse things.
The Darknet e-commerce sites and forums are incredibly user-friendly. For example Silk Road drugs marketplace includes most of the features of usual legitimate sites: detailed product descriptions, hi-res images and even “report” buttons. Such websites work on a user review system, so sellers are interested to provide reliable products and services of high quality.
Not all of these sites are perfect. But the Darknet community is constantly working on improving things. For example developing payment methods to avoid unfair sellers.
Of course, the Tor browser takes more manipulations and background knowledge to operate. Most users would simply give up trying to setup and use encryption for Multisig escrow. But the experts argue, it’s only a matter of time before the Darknet markets become mainstream. They are secure, creative, censorship-free. Today there are already about two or three million global users of the Tor.
Unlike most of web users, fraudsters and cybercriminals are more than ready to use the Darknet. Which means that the Darknet will remain a perfect platform for an anonymous and lawless network, where criminals can buy and sell counterfeit goods, stolen IPs, customer data and user credentials.
More time is needed before the non-indexed websites become a part of everyday life of the masses. But now the Darknet is one of the most exciting and interesting locations on the web. Because innovation takes place not only in big businesses, but also in the fringes. And people in the fringes, the outcasts, are the most creative. One won’t find any pop-up ad or lolcat on the Darknet. That’s why it might be getting more and more popular.
References:
- Ablon, L., Libicki, M. C., & Golay, A. A. Markets for Cybercrime Tools and Stolen Data: Hackers’ Bazaar. Santa Monica, CA.: Rand Corporation, 2014.
- Barratt, M. J., Ferris, J. A., & Winstock, A. R. Use of Silk Road, the online drug market- place, in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Addiction, 109(5), 774-783, 2014.
- Bartlett, J. The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld. William Heinemann Ltd., 2015.
- Coleman, G. Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous. London: Verso Books, 2014.
- Goodman, M. Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It. New York: Random House, 2015.
- Mckinnon, A. Hacking: Ultimate Hacking for Beginners. Seattle, WA.: Amazon Digital Services, 2015.
- Schneier, B. Data and Goliath:The Hidden Battles to CollectYour Data and ControlYourWorld. NewYork: W.W. Norton and Company, 2015.
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