I`m not one of those who usually approach peripheral neighborhoods of the city, where the boundaries between the right and the least correct are blurred. Something similar happens with the Internet, which also have its peripheral areas where not everything is pink: It’s about the deep and dark web.
Surface web
Surface web is the part of the Internet where we browse 90% of Internet users, access to Google, Facebook (well, if you are worried about your data, you better not enter FB #DeleteFacebook), Amazon, …. yes, of course, there is a percentage of people who also browse the deep and dark web, that is, the deep internet.
Deep web
It is defined as the part of the Internet that contains things that are private, such as your private mail, your cloud storage account, your chat messages … everything that has security or needs authentication: anything that does not have a link Direct access.
Dark web
In order to access this part of the internet, the use of certain tools is necessary, and they are not accessible from an ordinary browser. You need a Tor browser, but it is also important to know Bitcoin (because cryptocurrencies is what is usually used to pay) and Tails, which is an Operating System. It is the internet where you find things hidden on purpose with “allegory” (or completely illegal) markets.
Tor’s initial idea was to have a network to send secure messages, so that they cannot be intercepted, or the sender of the message is unknown.
The Tor network is characterized by:
- Use proxy to anonymize communication
- You have to use the Tor browser
- Use the encrypted usabdo Onion Routing
A very important detail is that your Internet provider is always present, because it is the one that gives you service!
Tor network
When browsing the Tor network, you don`t go directly to the site, but go through Tor nodes, and access a minimum of 3 to prevent messages from intercepting. Basically because the information that passes through a Tor node is encrypted and protected. This makes your connection each time different, and anonymous. But, there are 2 vulnerabilities to know, and they are at the beginning and end of the chain, so if you send your private information, you should know that it is not entirely secure. To improve security, it is necessary to know PGP, pretty good privacy, which is the way to encrypt messages online. It Also serves to encrypt files, emails, text, … Therefore, the process is complex: you have to create a public and private key, but the message will be encrypted with the public and decrypted with the private. A little messy, but effective.
Due to these features that have been described in this post, the dark web is the part of the internet where you can find “little bequeathed”, “unethical” or even criminal content.
My experience in the dark web
First of all, I do everything at the educational level, and that I have no concern to enter that world, but that does not imply that I don`t know what can be found.
If it is true that, to start, it is difficult to find search engines and forums to start browsing. And in it, we are! We keep on learning !!