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What Is The Dark Web?

Many people access the Dark Web - what is your reason?

By Rachel G. DavidPublished 7 years ago 2 min read
Top Story - July 2017
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If you go on YouTube, you will see videos containing terrifying stories of people who have gone on websites that are located on "the Dark Web." It sounds like some kind of fictional, strange, evil version of the already-twisted internet we know and love. Though it sounds like stupid horror movie stuff, there is a legit Dark Web.

Most people have heard of the Dark Web, but don't really know what it is. While most techies can tell you volumes about this topic, it's still worth rehashing just so that more tech-averse people can learn about it - and why it's kind of terrifying.

The Dark Web is a part of the Deep Web.

A common mistake made by people is the belief that the Deep Web and Dark Web are the same thing. They're not.

Deep Web sites are just sites that aren't accessible via search engine yet. Most of these sites are just honest, innocent zones haven't been catalogued or noticed by internet search engines. If you've had an old website back in middle school for your Sabrina, the Teenage Witch fanart that never got picked up by crawlers, that website would be Deep Web.

But, the Dark Web is a little different. This is a small sliver of websites that can't be accessed by regular browser configurations. These sites may exist on darknets and may need special software or access codes to get onto.

Chances are that you've heard of some software configurations that contain the Dark Web on them. Common configurations and software kits used for Dark Web browsing include peer-to-peer networks between friends, Tor, I2P, and Freenet.

Why Dark Web?

The Dark Web has gained a lot of attention for the illegal activities that go on through it - and it makes sense why it's such a criminal-rich zone. The configurations that give people access make browsing almost anonymous, nearly impossible to track, and also very hard for governments to contain.

In a word, the way these are set up make it nearly impossible for people to enforce laws or track down criminals who use it. Because of that, it's become infamous for drug trafficking, hacker-for-hire sites, sex trafficking sites, and even murder-for-entertainment sites.

Dark Web may have criminals, but not all people who go on are criminal.

Though there are definitely a lot of sites that involve heinous crimes going on throughout the Dark Web, that's not all it is. Many people access the Dark Web as a way to circumvent the restrictions on free speech that are placed on them by governments. Others just try the Dark Web because of curiosity's sake, too.

What we're trying to say here is that it's not always a criminal thing going on in the Dark Web. Does it happen way more often? Yes. But, it's not all that the Dark Web does.

Is it worth a tour?

It's hard to say that the Dark Web is worth a tour, to be honest. Most people won't find much on there that would be considered to be that interesting - and going on the wrong site could mean serious trouble.

fact or fictiontech news
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About the Creator

Rachel G. David

Head of Business Development @ Creatd (Nasdaq: CRTD)

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Comments (2)

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  • Garry Lirk10 months ago

    The dark web is simply not designed to be neatly organized and indexed. The main goal of most services on the dark web is to remain hidden, and be available only to dedicated people. So the best guide is the nemesis market link https://nemlink.com/ . Wish you luck!

  • WOAabout a year ago

    I've honestly always wanted to go on the dark web but been afraid to because a) I don't want to see traumatising stuff (I still can't get images of 4chan out of my head), b) I don't wan tto end up in over my head on something not ok (like serious virus or worse) and c) I don't want to end up on a government watch list. Which I find very upsetting to say. I don't really know what to do there either so its an intriguing concept, like you said, but very nebulous if worth the risk just to satisfy curiousity.

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