Deep Web:

Jiunge Nasi Hapa 

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@fullStori

Last edited: November 6, 2019
Reading time: 52 minutes, 6 seconds

You may have heard of the dark web. It’s usually described as the ‘hidden’ and even dangerous part of the internet where all sorts of shady business takes place. Most internet users won’t find themselves on the dark web regularly, or at all. This is understandable, because some parts of it really aren’t safe. If you’re curious to find out more, this article will tell you everything you need to know about the dark web and how to gain access to it.

First, we’ll introduce you to what the dark web is exactly and what happens on there. Then you will learn about VPNs and the Tor browser and how these tools are essential if you want to travel the dark web. Then we have a quick guide you can use to access the dark web relatively safely. If you really want to stay safe, we have prepared a comprehensive 15-step plan to safely browse the dark web. Make sure to check all of our security measures before doing so. Finally, you will find out that the use of the dark web is legal but some practices on there aren’t.

Accessing the dark web is very easy, but so is getting into deep trouble because of it. Therefore it’s important to always keep your online safety and privacy in mind. We highly recommend using a VPN to encrypt and anonymize all your internet traffic. Aside from that, always make sure you have proper and updated antivirus software running on your device. This way nobody can intercept your data, monitor your online actions or infect your PC. A VPN will protect you when you’re surfing the surface or deep web, but also when you want to investigate the dark web. With it, your Internet Service Provider (ISP), governments and hackers will all be clueless as to what you’ve been doing online.

An excellent VPN for the dark web: CyberGhost

CyberGhost is a high quality VPN provider which allows you to protect 7 devices at the same time. They offer strong encryption and an array of extra safety measures to choose from. This makes CyberGhost a great provider to use when you venture onto the dark web.

CyberGhost currently offers a very good deal to protect and anonymize all your internet traffic for less than $3,50 per month. This comes with a 45 day money-back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free and ask for your money back if you aren’t content. Moreover, they offer good customer support and are extremely user-friendly. Read all about this provider in our full review of CyberGhost.

• Very user-friendly
• High quality for a low price
• Torrents and Netflix possible

The internet is often described as consisting of three parts: the surface web, the deep web, and the dark web. The surface web is what most of us use every day. It’s accessible through regular search engines, like Chrome, Safari and Firefox. This very article is part of it: you can access it anywhere and at any time, as long as you have an internet connection.

The deep web is the part of the internet that houses very specific information. Most of us won’t have access to this information, and it isn’t accessible through search engines either. Mostly, these are pages and databases that are only meant for a certain group of people within an organization. In order to get access, you need to know the exact web address (URL). In some cases, you need a password as well. Examples of pages on the deep web are some university library databases, reports and journals that only subscribers have access to, and the timeline of your private Facebook account.

The last layer of the internet is the dark web. It’s more difficult to reach than the surface or deep web, since it’s only accessible through special browsers such as the Tor browser. The dark web is the unregulated part of the internet. No organization, business or government is in charge of it or able to apply rules. This is exactly the reason why the dark web is commonly associated with illegal practices. It’s impossible to reach the dark web through a ‘normal’ browser, and even in the Tor browser you won’t be able to find any ‘dark’ websites ending in .com or .org. Instead, URLs usually consist of a random mix of letters and numbers and end in .onion. Moreover, the URLs of websites on the dark net change regularly. Before moving on to the kinds of websites you’ll find on the dark web, we’ll first explain a little more about Tor.

The dark web is full of specialized jargon and technical talk. Lots of people active on the dark web use abbreviations that are unclear to newcomers. That’s why I short summary of regularly-used terms can come in handy.

• 2FA: Two-factor-authentication. This is simply a way to better secure your account. Rather than relying solely on your password, you now have to enter a second type of identification-method to gain access to your account. Usually this is done with a smartphone.
• Alphabay: This was the biggest dark web market after the shutdown of the original Silk Road. When that shut down, most buyers flocked to Alphabay. It didn’t survive for long though. The founder allegedly hung himself in a Thai prison after he was captured red-handed.
• Blockchain: This is the underlying technology of Bitcoin. It functions as a public ledger to ensure compliance across its users. It theoretically eliminates the need for private banks.
• Bridges: Bridges are a codes that you can use to access the Tor network even though this network is banned by your country. A bridge will make it appear as though you are entering the network from a different location and are therefore not restricted to your local barriers. Some people also use it as a way to circumvent their ISP from knowing they accessed the Tor network. This is however not necessary and frowned upon, as this further limits the options available to people who live in repressive states.
• BTC: This is the acronym given to Bitcoins. It is is still the most widely-used and popular cryptocurrency to date.
• Clearnet: Simply put, the clearnet is everything you can find on the internet via a search engine such as Google. These are all the websites which are publicly available, do not require any kind of registration or log-in credentials. However, this does not mean that websites that require a log-in are necessarily not part of the clearnet.
• CP: Short for Child Pornography. Unfortunately, the dark web contains an even darker corner and that hosts a number of pedophile networks through which their members are able to exchange illicit materials of children. There have been various attempts by law enforcement of a wide number of countries and also hacktivists such as the group Anoynmous to try to bring down this behavior. Alas, the problem has not abated. Occasionally, perpetrators are arrested and convicted. However, the vast majority of these communities persist and there does not appear to be a solution around the corner.
• Darknet: The darknet is often used as a synonym for the dark web, although this is not entirely accurate. The darknet encompasses a wider range of the internet that is not technologically restricted to hidden services such as those offered by the Tor network. Rather, any kind of perceived out-of-the-norm behavior can be subsumed under the definition of the darknet, even if it is not technically speaking a hidden service. For example, a bulimic finding encouragement on a clearnet website could be considered part of the “darknet” within the framework of Bartlett
• DD: Short for “Daisy’s Destruction”. This is the most infamous video on the dark web. It features a severely underage Filipina girl (younger than 3 years old) being brutally tortured and sexually abused. The producer of the film, Australian Peter Scully, was apprehended because of international research and police teams. Scully is currently spending time in a Filipino prison, awaiting further trials.
• HS: Short for ‘Hidden Services’.  These are services found on the dark web that are hidden prescisely because they do not rtack the IP address of its users nor does it broadcast its own IP address. Communication is allowed, yet all of the channels are obscured.
• LEA/LE: Short for ‘Law Enforcement Agencies/ Law Enforcement’. This is an acronym for Tor network users who wish to evade the scrutiny of law enforcement. These actors are present and active on dark markets and they will try to frame you. Know your rights and do not do anything illegal. There is nothing illegal about researching the dark web or browsing the dark web.
• Mystery Boxes: A YouTube craze wherein overexcited and poorly-acting individuals from YouTube try to bolster their channels’ viewers through the thrill of the dark web — despite the fact that dark web vendors do not waste their time sending random strangers convoluted clues and schemes for other people to publicly figure out on YouTube. The videos found on YouTube are all contrived.
• OS (Live or Host): Short for Operating System. The live OS might be an OS that is temporarily loaded from some software such as VirtualBox. The Host OS is the operating system from which you are running the computer, i.e. Windows or MacOS.
• PGP: Short for ‘Pretty Good Privacy’. This is a cryptographic method designed by Phil Zimmerman and it is used by hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis to communicate anonymously and safely.
• Red Rooms: Red Rooms are the favorite myth of the Dark Web. Many people claim that these types of websites exist where a number of people pay a fee, gain access to a live stream where there is a torturer and a victim. The Paid visitors of the stream would then be able to order the torturer into acting out any depraved desires the streamers might have. Thankfully, to this no actual report of a verified Red Room has ever come in. As far as we know, red rooms are depraved fantasies rather than morbid realities.
• Satoshi Nakamoto: The name is most likely a pseudonym for the creator/architect of Bitcoin. It is possible that multiple people collaborated to create it.
• Silk Road: This was the original ‘success story’ of the dark web. An ambitious and clever young man set up a completely free-market economy (with the exception of cruel things like slavery, murder, identity theft and so on) for people to compete in. It was shut down in 2013. For more information, read this section.
• Tails: Tails  stands for: “The Amnesiac Incognito Live System.” This is a live version of Linux that helps you install the OS on some device or other
• Tor: The Onion Router: This is the protocol with which you are able to arrive at an anonymous network (or the dark web).
• Vendor: A Vendor is person that tries to sell goods or services on the dark web on a particular market.
• VPN: This is short for a virtual private network. The website has an entire section dedicated to explaining VPNs here.

The internet was originally an outgrowth of the Arpanet (Advanced Research Projects Agency). The aim of the agency was to connect several American university computers together in order to facilitate the sharing of academic data sets during the late 1960s. This small network was drastically expanded during 1973 when connections were made with England by installing telephone cables across the Atlantic ocean with an IT professor, Peter Kirstein, of the University College of London. He would later confess that “I had absolutely no idea what it would become”.

Slowly the network expanded across the globe and offered new methods for people to communicate with one another. It quickly became apparent that people preferred speaking to each other over this network rather than share data sets with each other, which was the original purpose for establishing the network. In 1978, the Bulletin Board System (BBS) was invented and it was shortly followed by Usenet in 1979.

During all of these developments the United States was also spreading its influence across the globe. Agents from several “three-letter agencies” such as the CIA were stationed in many far-flung places. There was a true global network of American spies who collected information and intelligence for “uncle Sam”.  During the 1990s, information became increasingly digitized and there was no longer a need for these spies to relay their reports via old-fashioned media such as radios or letters. Because of the internet and new cryptographic techniques, all of the information could suddenly just be sent through the internet.

This was because, around 1995, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory started a program that would eventually become Tor (The Onion Router). Around 1997 the project was passed on to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARP, who in turn gave it over to several civil rights groups. Now, the question of course it, why would the government give this technique and network over to civilian advocacy groups? There are some people, in fact, who believe that Tor was never really given up by the US government.

Another explanation is that they had to open up the anonymous network because every US agent had to be able to use it from anywhere across the world at any time. That made the network vulnerable to infiltration.  Moreover, if only U.S. intelligence agents would be using this network, then obviously any communication taken from this network would be highly valuable. Therefore, it would be better to open the network up to many other people so the intelligence communications would be awash in a sea of non-government communications. Like this, everybody would remain anonymous, and U.S. agents could use the network to relay their reports.

While the Tor network became available to anyone with an internet connection, more and more servers were being set up across the globe. The network therefore became far more decentralized. With each new connection in a different country, the U.S. jurisdiction over the internet became smaller. The power of a network resides in the fact that it cannot be turned down from just one location. If you pull the plug from the American side, the rest of the network does not cease to exist. The rest of the network just carries on.

Apart from the inability of the any one state to completely shut down the network, the U.S. also benefits from having this network around — even if it also hosts illegal activities. It is still being used as a channel for covert communications by intelligence agencies. It is also one of the best tools that dissidents have to stand up, leak, whistle-blow etc. against authoritarian states that the U.S. is very critical of. Whether it is Venezuela or Iran, the U.S. is glad that people have a tool like Tor around to make life harder for those regimes. Of course, sometimes it can come back around on the US, as evidenced by the Wikileaks and Snowden leaks.

As such, the dark web can be both beneficial and dangerous at the same time. Because it is helpful in multiple ways, the US government does not want to shut it down. Even if they did, they would have to try to shut it down in its entirety and get the compliance and cooperation of dozens of countries that have no interest in cooperating with the US. What national authorities are able to do is cooperate to close down certain sites and hold their owners, administrators, users etc. accountable. Often when a dark web site does get closed down, multiple agencies have worked together to make that happen. For example, if the US department of Justice wants to shut down a Dutch marijuana-selling dark market, that would require the cooperation of the Dutch police, Europol, and possibly a number of other agencies and authorities. The following image showcases the number of agencies involved with seizing 1 dark market.

Taking down this particular website required the cooperation of at least ten different agencies from at least four different countries. This site was taken down by, including but not limited to:

1. The US department of Justice (US)
2. Europol (Europe)
3. National Crime Agency (Eng)
4. Policia General (Spa)
5. Cyber Crimes Unit Washington (US)
6. United States Postal Inspection Service (US)
7. Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (US)
8. BundesKrimilanalamt (Ger)

The fact that all of these agencies had to cooperate to bring down this site shows how tricky it can be to take down parts of the dark web, let alone the entire dark web.

Tor (the onion router) is open-source free software that functions as a browser. Unlike browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, Tor aims to keep its users anonymous. In order to make this happen, Tor works with high levels of encryption. Your searches travel through a network of nodes. At every node, part of the encryption is peeled off. Eventually your information ends up at the website of your choice. This process of onion routing aims to keep the user anonymous.

The Tor browser is used to access the dark web. As mentioned, this is the only way to reach URLs with the suffix .onion. This suffix refers to the onion routing that Tor uses to secure anonymous browsing: encryption comes in layers, like the layers of an onion. Websites can decide to use a .onion domain because they do not want too many people to know they exist. This could be because they simply want to be exclusive, or because they contain content that’s considered questionable or illegal.

Tor can give you access to the whole web, regardless of whether the websites are regulated or not. Although Tor can be used to access the dark web, most of its users still remain on the surface web. In other words: Tor is mostly used to anonymize online browsing, but is also the main route to the dark web. For even more details on the Tor browser, visit our Tor browser page.

In short, Tor browser is necessary to access the dark web and also helps to make you more anonymous on the internet. Your IP address, for example, stays hidden. Check out these 10 reasons to hide your IP address. Please note, Tor browser is not foolproof. This is why it is always recommended to also have a VPN running.

If you want to visit the dark web, we advise you to take the following steps:

• Install a VPN (we suggest CyberGhost) on your device and switch it on
• Make sure you’ve got up-to-date antivirus software on your device
• Download and install the anonymous Tor browser
• Start the Tor browser
• Forbid scripts in the Tor browser
• Optional: change the security settings in Tor
• Surf the dark web, for example by starting at the Hidden Wiki. The link is http://zqktlwi4fecvo6ri.onion/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Finally, before getting on the dark web please remember that it can be a very dangerous place. Take our warnings to heart and don’t make it easy for malware and hackers to affect your device!

You may not have realized it but it makes an actual difference if you connect with the Tor network while you are connected to a VPN or the other way around.

The added advantage of installing a VPN before getting on the Tor network is that your ISP or any other interested party (government agencies, hackers etc.) won’t know that you have signed on to the Tor network because your internet traffic is already being encrypted. Sadly, the mere fact that you would want to sign on to an anonymous network such as Tor is enough to cast suspicion on you in the eyes of certain groups. And although the Tor network is encrypted and anonymous, it won’t stop your ISP or anyone else snooping on your internet traffic through your IP address from knowing that you signed on to Tor. That is of course, unless, you first connect with a VPN.

It is also possible to get a subscription to a VPN through the Tor network. This means that you first sign on to Tor, then in the Tor browser you would go to the website of NordVPN or Cyberghost. The added benefit would be that your ISP won’t know that you have an interest in a VPN service. In our experience though, getting onto the Tor network is generally considered far more suspicious due to its association with the dark web.

As a first stop when visiting the dark web, we suggest the Hidden Wiki. The Hidden Wiki provides links to search engines and websites, so you can navigate the dark web more easily. This makes the Hidden Wiki a good starting point for when you don’t know where to go.

You can find the Hidden Wiki by copying the following URL into your Tor browser: http://zqktlwi4fecvo6ri.onion/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. The web addresses on the dark web do change constantly, but there are many websites on the surface web that will provide you with the right up-to-date URL for this particular page.

Another good place to start is our 10 websites worth visiting on the dark web article.

1. Use a mobile live OS (optional)
2. Use a VPN to encrypt your internet traffic
3. Download Tor from its official website
4. Take security precautions
5. Forbid scripts in the Tor browser
6. Change the security level in the Tor browser
7. Check if there’s not an IP-, DNS-, or WebRTC leak
8. Be aware of common dark web myths
9. Use additional anonymous services
10. Avoid logins, subscriptions, and payments
11. Know where you’re going
12. If you’re going to buy something on the dark web, use cryptocurrency
13. Close everything when you’re done
14. Realize that you are never 100% safe
15. Consult online guides, blogs, search engines, chatsites etc.

Bonus: Tips for those who wish to stay truly anonymous

Anonymity is the most important thing to safeguard on the dark web. Not because the dark web is illegal (it isn’t), but because the most anonymous you are – the safer you are. Unfortunately, Windows 10 is a privacy nightmare. 

• Your data is continually synced: browser history, open websites, app settings, and wifi hotspots are all tracked
• Your device is automatically linked to a unique advertisement ID for third parties
• Cortana collects data such as: your keystrokes, search results, microphone audio messages, calender information, music playlists, and even your online purchases
• Microsoft can collect all sorts of personal data: your identity, your passwords, habits and interests, user data, contacts, and locations

If a hacker manages to get into your system via the dark web, all of this information can potentially be exploited by that hacker. Many of these settings in Windows can easily be turned off (though not all!). You can do this by going through the settings in Windows or by using a nifty piece of software like W10Privacy.

A much better idea than going on the dark web via Windows 10 is to use a live mobile OS.

Tails, Whonix, ZeusGuard, or Qubes

Tails (The Amnesiac Incognito Live System) is a live version of Linux OS that won’t leave any trace of your activity or the OS on your computer.
This free OS can be downloaded onto a USB flash drive or DVD. You do not have to install it on your computer. You simply plug in the USB flash drive or insert the DVD when you want to browse without leaving a trace and load the OS. It cannot save cookies on your hard drive unless you personally direct it to.

Tails also has the Tor browser pre-installed. The Tor browser is essential for getting on the dark web and installing Tails on a flash drive saves you the trouble of installing Tor on your PC or laptop.

Alternatives to Tails are Whonix,  ZeusGuard (paid) and Qubes OS. All three have their upsides and downsides. It is really a matter of personal preference.

Whonix is much like Tails in that it is a live OS that runs next to your regular OS. In other words, you can use Windows, Mac, or Linux and just use Tails or Whonix on the side. Everything you do on Whonix is routed through Tor. The difference is that Whonix runs simultaneously to your regular OS through a virtual machine. This makes logging in and out of the dark web much faster and simpler. It arguably makes it also less safe. Their homepage has detailed instructions.

Qubes OS is a single user, desktop operating system with a bunch of virtual machines running inside it. It only has about 30k users. It is arguably your safest option because the OS is comprised of several different virtual machines. Edward Snowden, for example, uses Qubes OS to safeguard his anonymity.

Live OS do not support VPNs

It is very important to note, however, that many live OS do not support VPNs. This is for a good reason. These types of operating systems run on isolated virtual machines, meaning there is very little to connect it to your identity or anything else on your computer. In this case, having a subscription to a VPN might actually make you more detectable than just using the Tor network. This is because VPNs, in this case, would introduce a permanent entry guard or a permanent exit node. This just means that, ironically enough, the VPN introduces a new method for detection.

So, when using a live OS –> Use Tor, but not VPN (you can skip step 2 and 3 and go on to step 4)

When using Windows, Mac, or Linux –> Use VPN and then Tor (go to step 2)

Of course, not everyone feels comfortable downloading and using an entire new operating system. IF you choose to not access the dark web via Tails, make sure to follow these next steps.

Even if you use the Tor browser, your traffic can still be traced back to you by anyone with sufficient time, resources, and know-how. In fact, the Tor browser was found to have a vulnerability in 2017 that in some instances leaked real IP addresses. This problem was especially serious for MacOS and Linux users. If these users had taken the precaution to also have a VPN operating in the background, however, their real IP addresses would not have been compromised.

Therefore, it is highly advisable that you use a VPN in addition to Tor while browsing the dark web. VPNs encrypt your web traffic and make sure your IP address is hidden from any hackers or government surveillance, even if there is a leak within the Tor browser. For more information on VPNs, see our detailed explanation. Please be aware, however, that not every VPN provider is equally reliable. Free versions often suffer from slow service, data limits and security leaks. For an overview of some of the best and most reliable VPN providers, take a look at our Top 5 VPN providers page.

Please take note, however, that many live mobile OS like Tails do not support the use of a VPN. If you are using one of these live mobile OS, you can skip this step of installing a VPN and go straight to taking some extra security precautions.

Another possibility, if you don’t feel like going through the hassle of selecting a VPN or going through a live OS, is to just put down a $120 or so for some hardware like Anonabox. This is essentially a special router which has been pre-programmed to keep you anonymous on the internet. Not even this is a 100% anonymous, though.

The mobile live OS such as Tails and Whonix already have the Tor browser pre-installed so you can skip ahead to step 4. For Windows, Mac, Linux or Andoid users, however, this is important.

The Tor browser is an interesting target for hackers and government agencies. Fake versions of the Tor browser have been created to either breach users before they even access the dark web or monitor the behavior of a user while on the dark web. The latter approach is especially attractive to government agencies.

As such, you should always download the Tor browser from its official website: https://www.torproject.org/
Make sure you always download the latest version of the browser and keep it up to date at all times. That way, you will ensure you have the latest security safeguards in place.

Android users can use Orbot. This app is also brought to you by the makers of the Tor Project. Iphone users unfortunately cannot use any kind of Tor products without jailbreaking their device first.

Before you open the Tor browser, you should:

•  Close all non-essential apps on your machine, e.g., Netflix, password managers.
• Stop unnecessary services from running, e.g., Onedrive.
•  Cover your webcam with a piece of paper. It is shockingly easy to gain access to your webcam, even without you noticing.
• Have a reputable and fully updated antivirus program installed on your device.
• Install quality and up-to-date anti-malware software. For more general information on malware, see our malware section.
• Turn off your location on your device. Your location can be found through your IP-address as well as your device itself.

For Windows 10, you can turn off your location from Settings > Privacy > Location > Turn off location + erase location history

For macOS: System Preferences > Security & Privacy panel > Privacy > uncheck “Enable location Services”

For Tails or other live OS: you will not have to worry about your location being leaked.

The dark web is crawling with hackers who will seize any opportunity to exploit any detail you may have overlooked. If a hacker from the dark web manages to hack your system, all the apps and services you have running in the background are open to attack.

Essentially, the best way to stay safe on the dark web is to make sure that a potential hacker has little or no information about you to work with. This means you should not randomly browse around the dark web or give out personal information. Do not click on any suspicious links. Leave as few traces of your presence as possible. These precautions will decrease the odds of you being targeted.

Once you have opened the Tor browser, do not change the size of Tor browser screen. Oddly enough, this will keep you safer.

It also doesn’t hurt to check how well your Tor browser (or your everyday browser for when  you’re not on the dark web) is secured against tracking. Panopticlick allows you to check with just one click if your browser is safeguarded against: advertisement-trackers, invisible trackers, so-called “acceptable advertisements” and your digital fingerprint.

Scripts on websites can be used to keep track of what you’re doing online: they become part of your digital fingerprint. Tor has included a nice feature in its browser to ensure no websites are able to run scripts on you. To activate this, go to the upper right corner of the browser and click on the symbol with the letter “S”. Select the option Enable restrictions globally, and you’re good to go.

It is important to change these settings because websites often run scripts without notifying you. This is especially dangerous on the dark web as .onion-websites are unregulated and there is a lot of malware going around. By blocking scripts, you reduce the chance of your computer getting infected. However, even blocking scripts doesn’t protect you from all harm. Caution should therefore still be exercised when browsing the dark web.

In order to verify if you have successfully forbidden scripts in the Tor browser, look at the “S” in the upper right-hand corner. When there is an exclamation mark next to it, websites could still be running unauthorized scripts. If there is no exclamation mark, you’re safe from any unwanted scripts.

If you want to disable scripts for your everyday usage in a different browser, you can best do this through an extension.

Chrome or Brave: Scriptsafe

Firefox: NoScript

Both extensions will enable you to decide which websites can run Javascript and which cannot. Please take note: both of these extensions can turn off all sorts of regular web functions by disabling Javascript.

It is also possible to increase the security level of the Tor browser itself. You can do this by clicking the Tor logo in the upper left-hand corner. Select security settings. A window will pop up, enabling you to change the security level from medium to high.

Naturally, the highest setting is the safest. Unfortunately, this setting does significantly slow down your internet connection and causes some websites to not fully function. The highest security setting will disable most video and audio formats, some fonts and icons may not display correctly, Javascript is disabled, and some images may not be displayed properly, among other things.

Tor has included this security setting with the exact intent to safeguard its user from the many sites on the dark web that might try to take control over your device or spread malware. This setting is nevertheless restrictive as it does not allow you the unlimited browsing experience of the dark web. In the end, it is a decision between safety and access. We recommend sticking to the highest security setting.