Advantages, Disadvantages and Risks of Deep and Dark Web Links
The Dark Web (also called Darknet) is a subset of the Deep Web that is not only not indexed, but that also requires something special to be able to access it, e.g., specific proxying software or authentication to gain access. The Dark Web often sits on top of additional sub-networks, such as Tor, I2P, and Freenet, and is often associated with criminal activity of various degrees, including buying and selling drugs, pornography, gambling, etc. While the Dark Web is definitely used for nefarious purposes more than the standard Internet or the Deep Web, there are many legitimate uses for the Dark Web as well. Legitimate uses include things like using Tor to anonymize reports of domestic abuse, government oppression, and other crimes that have serious consequences for those calling out the issues. Common Dark Web resource types are media distribution, with emphasis on specialized and particular interests, and exchanges where you can purchase illegal goods or services. These types of sites frequently require that one contributes before using, which both keeps the resource alive with new content and also helps assure (for illegal content sites) that everyone there shares a bond of mutual guilt that helps reduce the chances that anyone will report the site to the authorities. Hidden Wiki website THE DARK WEB LINKS reported in their recent blog post.
Be careful when you use specialized search engines to explore the Deep Web: its research value comes at the price of its many pitfalls. The Deep Web’s bevy of scholarly material is interspersed with illegal material, like illicit drug sales sites, backdoors beyond website paywalls and even child pornography.You may have heard the dark web is a place for drug dealers and hitmen. That’s correct, but there’s more to it than that. In this article, find out what is the dark web, how to access it, and what you might find there.
The dark web is a part of the Internet that requires special software to access and is not indexed by search engines. It offers much greater privacy than the widely accessible parts of the World Wide Web.
That privacy also makes the dark web a setting for illegal activity, scams, and offensive content. The high-profile rise and fall of the Silk Road marketplace for illicit drugs is the best-known example of this. But despite the sensational media coverage, few people really understand what the dark web is or how it works. For instance, it might surprise some people to learn that The New York Timesand Facebook both maintain websites on the dark web.
The dark web isn’t “dark” because it’s bad; it’s dark because it’s the only place on the Internet that offers a bit of privacy. In this article, we’ll explain how that works, what actually happens on the dark web, and how you can check it out for yourself.
Hidden Search Results
Searching the Deep Web (also known as the “Deepnet” or “hidden Web”) provides access to sites that are have not been indexed by search engines, including database entries. These searches often yield links you would never find through a source such as Google, as Google does not index database entries.
A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy
While the Deep Web contains a wealth of valuable information, especially for scholars, it’s also a dark and dangerous place. The Deep Web’s anonymity attracts criminal activity ranging from the sales of illegal drugs and weapons to the trading of child pornography and even the hiring of contract killers. The Deep Web even has an illicit version of eBay, known as The Silk Road, where all manner of illegal goods and services can be purchased. The Deep Web also contains information hidden behind the paywalls and security measures of some companies. If you access this information, you risk litigation or arrest for copyright infringement and violation of a site’s terms of use.
Light in the Darkness
Despite the dangers of exploring the Deep Web, there are some other benefits aside from access to more research material. The Deep Web offers an avenue for expression, organization and the influx of information for people living under oppressive or restrictive regimes. Deep Web connections are anonymous and difficult to monitor, facilitating access to current news from around the globe without government filtering, “interpretation” or censorship.
The Right Tools for the Job
While Deep Web search engines like Infomine, CompletePlanet, Deep Dyve or TechXtra can locate hidden material, other tools may be needed to view it. Many Deep Web resources use “.onion” URLs, viewable only on browsers like Tor. Deep Web information can also be slower to access than surface Web information, dependent primarily on the speed of the databases being accessed. Deep Web resources also link differently than surface Web resources, creating a learning curve for beginners.
What’s in a Name?
The Deep Web is sometimes referred to as the “Dark Web,” because the illicit nature of much of its content. This term is somewhat erroneous however, as it is very similar and sometimes considered interchangeable with Dark Internet or Darknet, two very different things. Dark Internet refers to any Internet resource that can no longer be reached by conventional means, usually due to technical difficulties. Darknet refers to anonymous peer-to-peer filesharing networks that obscure the IP addresses of all connected users. While Dark Web may seem appropriate, Deep Web is more commonly used and less confusing. BrightPlanet founder Michael Bergman is credited with coining the term in a 2001 paper published in the Journal of Electronic Publishing.
How to access the dark web
Tor is the most popular dark web interface, with millions of users. There are a number of ways to access the Tor network, including via the Tor browser , the operating system Tails, or by installing Tor on your computer. ProtonVPN also provides one-click Tor access through the Tor over VPN feature. From there, you can browse the web normally as well as gain access to highly private and secure onion sites.
Unlike the regular web, however, even after you have connected to the dark web, it isn’t so easy to find websites. Dark web sites use randomly generated domains that aren’t easy to remember. The dark web is also difficult to index, meaning search engines are ineffective. There are a number of link directories, such as The Hidden Wiki, that attempt to catalogue the dark web. But because dark web sites change their domain frequently.
Web Pages
Searching the Deep Web gives you access to more pages than you can see when you use with a normal search engine. Most of the Web pages on the Internet aren’t indexed by Bing, Google, Yahoo and other search providers; instead, they’re designed to stay hidden from programs that grab links and display them in searches. If you know how to search the Deep Web correctly and stay away from the negative content, you have access to much more information and many more pages than you would in a traditional Web search.
Negative Content
One problem visitors to the Deep Web, also known as the Dark Web, experience is negative content. Types of material that are filtered out of normal search engines are readily available; many of the pages on the Dark Web display illegal content related to drugs, violence, private information or pornography. While you can avoid the material, your chances of encountering it while learning to use the Dark Web are much higher than they are on the Internet indexed by search engines. Some material on the Dark Web is illegal to download, so never accept a file request without knowing for sure what will be saved on your computer. Sometimes clicking on a link you thought was clean will direct you to a site you didn’t want to see — click back and don’t return to that link, if it happens.
Staying Safe
To stay safe on the Deep Web, only click on links that open content you want to see. If the link isn’t identified or doesn’t go to a resource that you understand, don’t open it. To avoid child porn, don’t click on links or download files that include terms like “jailbait,” “PD,” “CP,” “candy,” “hard candy” and similar terms. Keeping to search engines that only access certain types of Deep Web content like InfoMine, Complete Planet and TechXtra (links in Resources) also helps dramatically. You can search for scholarly articles and other information on these sites without accessing the illegal content on the Deep Web. Less pages are available through scholarly Deep Web search engines, but they will help you find information more quickly than you would browsing Deep Web forums for scientific, business or other scholarly resources.
Information
Some of the content on the Deep Web isn’t intended to be hidden; it’s just placed behind cyber-walls that prevent you from accessing it without completing certain forms. When you do a normal Web search, you don’t know it’s available or on-topic for what you’re researching because it doesn’t appear in the results. When you perform the same search in the Deep Web, you may get access to the article, Web page or discussion that completes your research. If the information is behind a paywall or password protected, don’t access it. Make a note of where the information is located and return to the site on a normal Web browser. Once you pay for the information or register for the site, you can access it legally. Accessing it without permission may break your local laws and will violate the terms of service for the site the content is hosted on. While violating terms of service isn’t a crime, unauthorized access is in some cases.
Functionality
The Deep Web doesn’t work as smoothly as the regulated Internet. It’s very slow and takes much longer to use both because of the network itself and because some of the information is self-hosted. It’s much more difficult to navigate and takes some time to learn to use efficiently. Most sites on the Deep Web are safe, but run your antivirus protection whenever you access it anyway.Things That Make Internet Crime Work.
To be completely honest, that one is a double-edged sword. Anonymity results in freedom, which sounds perfect. Sadly it is also the honey that attracts all the criminal activity that gives the deep web such a bad name. To appreciate the anonymity that browsers such as Tor (there are others, but they are not as user-friendly) we need to realize that our web actions leave traces of ourselves, a massive amount of personal that shapes what is known as our digital identity. Both companies and governments are extremely interested in monitoring our behavior, and many users prefer to hide their identities to avoid political, economic or social harassment. To guarantees that the user IP address cannot be tracked (to add an extra layer of security it would be recommendable to log into Tor via a VPN network). It is not that anonymity is not a crime; it is actually a legally recognized right.