You might have heard about the dark web or deep web or clear web. WTF is the dark, deep and clear web. First of all, let’s talk about the clear web. This is normal internet like Facebook, Google, Twitter, GizmoGuff, etc. where you do everyday things. All websites and web pages that can be found in the search engine are the clear webs. Another thig is deep web, this is a subset of the internet that cannot be found by search engines, like Bing or Google. The deep web does not have anything like illegal on it.
Talking about the dark web, maybe you heard about the Tumblr, LinkedIn or Dropbox password floating around or some guy busted for running Silk Road, a site selling drugs and other illicit goods. All these types of work are done through the dark web. To access such website you need some special software particularly made for those type of work. You are not going to stumble upon these sites while searching in the google. Dark web is used for all purposes you might imagine, from benign (whistleblowing, cryptocurrency) to the more nefarious (child porn, narcotics sales).
How do I access it?
It depends on the part of the dark web you are trying to access, you will need different services. The Onion Router or TOR is the most famous one and there is another called I2P. You can download TOR here and I2P here. Here we will be discussing the TOR. It is cool software, rather connecting your device directly to the website, it jumps from server to the servers and encrypts it at each step of the way. As the name suggests “The Onion Router”, the concept is clear, the data or request has to pass through layers, like of Onions. Rather than driving you through the straight from your home to destination, it drives you a zigzag road, which makes it difficult to track you.
But who uses TOR?
The answer is very easy, everyone. Family and friends, business houses, activists, media and even the military and law enforcement. It provides you a secure way to communicate. Due to its features like security and anonymity, software is also misused for selling drugs, explicit contents, etc.
Will I get in trouble looking at the dark web?
Well, you are an adult, you know what is right and what is wrong. You decide yourself, besides I am not your lawyer. However, social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter etc. are providing such facilities for some activists, social group, etc.
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