The dark web is an encrypted layer that sits on top of the normal internet. It’s only accessible through special browsers, such as Tor.
Tor has been around for over a decade, but it has become more popular since whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the extent of the world’s surveillance operations.
The dark web is not a single website. It’s made up of all the websites that sit on the .onion domain. These websites are not indexed by search engines.
When you first use Tor, you can access the normal internet, just like you normally would. But if you want to browse the dark web, you will need to change your settings.
The dark web is a haven for criminals who want to remain anonymous. But it’s also home to many privacy campaigners who believe in maintaining their anonymity for many reasons.
On the dark web, it is possible to buy drugs, guns, child abuse imagery and more.
Many dark web sites use the cryptocurrency Bitcoin to process their transactions. It’s not possible to trace the transactions.
But this anonymity can be a double-edged sword.
The dark web is home to cybercriminals who use it to effectively hide from law enforcement. That’s why the FBI ran Operation Onymous in 2014.
The FBI shut down the dark web marketplace known as Silk Road 2.0 and arrested its alleged creator.
In the UK, the National Crime Agency (NCA) shut down the marketplace known as Black Market Reloaded, which was using Tor to hide its IP address.
The NCA also seized computer equipment as part of Operation Athlete, which identified a number of people purchasing illegal goods from dark web sites.
The NCA said people who buy items from these sites run the risk of having them intercepted by the authorities.
The Guardian newspaper has reported that the NCA is increasingly focusing its efforts on the dark web.
The paper said investigators believe that as many as one in three purchases made on the dark web may be for illegal goods.
Dark web sites can be hacked
In January 2016, a dark web site known as Black Hand was hacked by a group called Terdot.
The group claimed it managed to gain access to Black Hand’s administrator account, which allowed it to seize control of the site.
Terdot then posted its own messages on the site and claimed the administrator had been arrested.
In its message, Terdot said: “We’re not done, we’re going to keep on targeting Dark Web users and admins who think they’re untouchable. Not as long as Terdot exists.”
It is unclear if any of the claims are true.
How to browse the dark web
The most popular way to access the dark web is through the Tor browser, which can be downloaded for free from the Tor website.
The browser uses an encrypted network to hide a user’s location and browsing activity.
The Tor browser is based on the Mozilla Firefox web browser. It is pre-configured to use Tor, but users can change these settings if they want to use Tor for other internet browsing.
Once you have installed the browser, you will see the following message: “Congratulations. Your browser is configured to use Tor”.
The browser can be downloaded from the Tor Project website
The browser is pre-configured to use the Tor network.
But it is possible to change the settings to use other internet connections.
Tor can also be used to browse the normal internet anonymously.
But the likelihood of your browsing history being traced back to you is higher.
