The dark web is a virtual neighborhood beyond the borders of the normaleveryday internet (which includes the website you're looking at right now). It's somewhere Google and Bing don't indexand you need special tools to get to it.
It's a place where you'll find data leaks and illegal tradesbut also legitimatelegal online activities users want to carry out without attracting the attention of law enforcement agencies or governments. It's a part of the internet that's less regulated and more shadowyfor better and for worse.
Piqued your interest? I'm going to explain how to get on the dark web and what you can find there—though Lifehacker doesn't endorse doing anything that breaks the lawso I'm not going to tell you how to do something you shouldn't.
The deep web versus the dark web: What’s the difference?
You'll often see these terms used in your travels across the internetand there's some confusion about what they mean. I'll start with the deep web: That's everything online that isn't indexed by regular search engineswhich includes pages locked behind paywallsprivate databasesemail archivescompany intranetsand so on.
Think about all the parts of the web you can't see without logging infrom academic journals to your Netflix account page: That's the deep web. It accounts for around 90 percent of websitesby some estimatesso we're talking about a substantial chunk of everything that's online.
The dark webwhich is what I'm discussing hereis a small subset of the deep weband refers to websites that are specifically trying to stay out of sight. These pages come with extra protections for user anonymity and data securityand you need special software to access them. You can't get at them through your normal web browserlike you can with much of the rest of the deep web.
Dark web tools and services
The dark web comes with its own set of tools and servicesincluding web browsers and search engines (which I'll get on to in a moment). Part of what makes the dark web the dark web is that you can't access it through your normal web browsernor can you look something up on it via a Google search.
Having a place on the internet that's private and anonymous will naturally encourage certain kinds of illicit activities: Hacking toolsdrugsfake passportspornfirearmsand more are all traded on the dark web. It's a bit like wandering into the sketchiest part of a citywith all the associated goings-on.
Howeverthere are plenty of legal and legitimate online activities that require privacy and anonymity. The dark web is used by journalistswhistleblowersand political activists who need the protections that it offers. Anything you need to do that has to be off the books to some extentfor noble or ignoble reasonscan be done on the dark web.
To browse the dark webyou need a dark web browser
To get on the dark webyou need a browser built for the joband the best in the business is Tor. Tor is a browser engineered for extra security and privacyand can be used to navigate the normalsurface web as well as the dark web. It blocks trackersprevents user fingerprintingencrypts dataand reroutes your browsing so no one can see where in the world you are.
Tor is like the public-facing door to the dark weband there are also mobile apps for Android and iOS. While there are other browsers you can use to get on the dark webTor is usually recommended as the best for most people in terms of the features it offers and the ease with which anyone can make use of it.
Key to the way Tor works is what's known as onion routing technology. It gets its name from the way it puts several layers of obfuscation between you and the weblike the layers of an onion: Your traffic is bounced between multiple nodeswhich means it's not as quick as regular browsingbut also that it's very difficult for anyone else to tell who you are or where you are.
When you open up the browser for the first time on the desktopyou'll see the option to Configure Connection or just Connect—choose the formerand you get more control over the nodes (or "bridges") used to get online. For most peopleit's fine to let Tor handle this automatically (and you can set this to be the default in your browser tooif you like).
Once you are onlineeverything works in a similar way to a regular browser. You can access all of the normal web through Torand take advantage of the extra privacy its rerouting providesas well as diving into the dark web. There are a few neat extra touches thoughlike the New identity button (the broomstick icontop right) that clears everything from your current session and restarts Tor.
The mobile apps are straightforward to use as well. Tor for Android is the official app for Google's mobile platformand while there's no exact equivalent on iOSthe open-source Onion Browser is a recommended alternative: The buttons for "onionizing" sites are on the top left (Android) and top right (iOS) corners. In both cases you can choose to install the Orbot VPN servicealso part of the Tor projectto further secure your connection to the web.
Even with Tor and onion routing in placethoughyou're not suddenly completely invisible and free to do whatever you wantwithout repercussions. Certain details of your traffic can be intercepted at the entry and exit points of the nodeby the people running those nodesif they know what they're doing and what they're looking for. You're also open to threats like end-to-end correlation attacksso while Tor is a lot more secure and privateit's by no means completely safe.
Bear in mindtoothat your internet provider will be able to see you connecting to Tor nodeseven if it doesn't know exactly what you're doing. Many people install a VPN as wellbut then you're putting your trust in an additional third party to not track your activities or report them to anyone else.
Cybersecurity has to also cover everything physically on your computer too—which law enforcement or government authorities might have the right to seize if they come calling. If you want to be untraceable and undetectableconnecting to the dark web via the Tor browser is a major step towards thatbut not the only step you'll need.
A dark web search engine
Open up Torand you won't suddenly see the dark web staring back at you. Not only do you need a dark web browseryou need a dark web search engine too. This search engine will get you to the sites you needthough you can also go directly to dark web addresses if you know what they areas with standard URLs.
DuckDuckGo is the default search engine inside the Tor browserand once you turn on the Onionize toggle switch in the search boxyou're able to use it to find dark web links. These typically come with ".onion" after themrather than something like ".com" as on the standard web. On the dark webyou have to do become more of a search engine yourself: You'll often get web links from other users or forums onlineand you'll need to keep these bookmarked to get back to them later.
Other dark web search engines worth investigating are AhmiaTorchNotEviland the Onion URL Directory—just type out some keywords for what you're looking for. Some of these sites can be found through regular web browsersbut you'll then need to switch over to Tor once you've got the onion links you want to follow.
Dark web websites
Individual sites on the dark web look much like they do on the regular webthough a lot of them are a bit more rough around the edges. (Presentation and polish isn't quite so important on this part of the internet.) Click on any website linkand it'll appear on screenwith its address at the top.
Some of the websites to look out for on the dark web include mirrors of both the BBC and the Mediapart journalism platformsbuilt to help inform people who are living in countries where the internet is heavily censored. If you're after secure emaillook for the Proton Mail service. If you visit a regular website that also has a dark web (.onion) equivalentyou should see see a message to this effect in the top right corner of Tor: Click on the Visit the .onion button to view it.
Given the associations that the dark web has and some of the illegal activities that take place on ityou won't find a huge number of well-known websites on there—a lot of the dark web is made up of siteswikisand forums maintained by volunteers. Howeverthere's still plenty worth exploring.
What's for sale on the dark web
I've already touched on some of the stuff that you'll find for sale on the dark web: It's a long way from eBaylet me put it like that. Anything you can think of that you shouldn't be downloading or buyingyou can usually find it somewhere on the dark web.
For obvious reasons—I don't want to get you or me into troubleafter all—I'm not going to get too specific when it comes to what you can find for sale on the dark web. A lot of transactions are handled via cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoinwhich is relatively (but not completely) private and anonymous. Another private cryptocurrency you'll find being used is Monerowhich prides itself on being untraceable.
That's not to say you should assume any transactions you make on the dark web won't ever be linked back to you—law enforcement has gotten pretty good at tracking down people who think they've been acting in the shadows. Even if you're using a privateanonymized crypto walletthere are other ways your identity can be revealed—even if it's something as simple as letting a personal detail slip in an instant message.
Taken as a wholethere aren't many good reasons to move your legitimate shopping activities to the dark web. Because of the way it worksand the kinds of items and goods that are typically on saleit attracts a lot of scammers and hackersand there are very few protections for you if you find yourself duped.
Is the dark web illegal?
The dark web itself isn't illegaland you're not going to get into any trouble just by visiting it—but it's a place where a lot of illegal activities are carried outbecause it's much harder for law enforcement agencies to see what's going on there.
You might often see news stories about criminal activity involving the dark weband because of what's happening in some corners of the dark webit tends to put off law-abiding companies and users alike. Sections of the dark web are often closed downtooas part of police operations.
With all of that in mindyou need to tread carefully when browsingin terms of the sites you visit and the other users you interact with. Bear in mind too that laws about freedom of speech and censorship vary from country to countrywhich is part of the reason the dark web exists in the first place.
Staying on top of the hacker underground
Hackers spend a lot of time on the dark weband it's not too difficult to get access to hacking tools and data leaks in this part of the internet. Howeverit's much harder to get at the people who are doing the uploading and downloading.
If you make use of a password managerthen it may come with a feature that monitors the dark web for mentions of your email address and passwordor any other personal details. If dark web monitoring isn't offered by the security packages you already havethere are other ways to do itand there are steps you can take if your information does get leaked.
As I've previously saidit's a good idea to keep your interactions with the dark web to a minimumunless you can absolutely trust the people you're dealing with. You'll often see a sign in stores that says "lookdon't touch," and it's not a bad adage to bear in mind as you navigate around the dark web.
