A look into the dark web
I recently read a book on Ross Ulbricht, the libertarian idealist who launched Silk Road, the Amazon-equivalent of the dark web. I became curious about this mysterious part of the internet and decided to dig deeper. It turns out, the internet as most of us know it — the computer network we use everyday to check emails, shop online, and share memes — is only the very surface of the world wide web. Beyond this familiar online word lies a hidden and extensive network known as the “dark web.” In this post, I take a look at what exactly is the dark web and how it came about. But first, let’s straighten out some definitions.
Surface web vs. deep web vs. dark web
The part of the internet indexed by standard search engines like Google or Bing is known as the “visible web” or “surface web.” One estimate shows that there were approximately 4.5 billion indexed web pages at the end of 2017, and it only makes up a tiny percentage of the entire internet. (Estimates on this vary between 4% to 10%.)
Outside of the visible web is the “deep web.” This includes pages that require some form of authentication, such as banking sites, subscription-based media, companies’ internal networks, government databases, etc. While these pages are not accessible to the public, many of us are well acquainted with this more private region of the digital world.
And then there is the dark web. It is a subset of the deep web, made up of secret networks and websites sending in .onion. Access to the dark web requires, among other prerequisites, special software that is configured to do the job, including Tor, Tails OS, I2P, Freenet, and Subgraph OS. These browsers encrypt any data that may reveal the user’s location or identity.
What is Tor?
Tor, short for “the onion router,” at its most basic level is a peer-to-peer (P2P) network that fosters encrypted communication from host to host. The software encrypts the user’s data, takes a random path of relays in the Tor network (other users’ computers), thus obscuring the user’s IP address from the website as well as hiding the destination website from the user’s internet service provider.
Despite the recent attempts by the National Security Agency (NSA) to crack down on Tor, the software was originally developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in 1995 as a way to protect and anonymize communications between American intelligence agents. Throughout the years, the U.S. government has continued to fund the anonymous browser through independent third-parties. According to an article on the Guardian, Tor received over $1.8 million in funding from the U.S. government in 2013. (Note: If you are interested in learning more about Tor’s history, take a look at this infographic.)
Controversies of the dark web
While many consider the dark web to be a dangerous place full of illegal activities and transactions, some compare it to the Wild West or Star Wars’ Mos Eisley Cantina, a space outside of common authority structures, where people of all backgrounds and ideologies intermingle.
There is no doubt that the dark web is a breeding ground for nefarious activities, including trading drugs, weapons, and stolen credit cards or identities. It can also serve as a medium through which criminal minds connect and communicate over the internet. One of the most notorious cases of the dark web is the aforementioned Silk Road, a Tor website where people could buy, sell, and trade all sorts of goods and services — legal and illegal. (The website was shut down by the FBI in October 2013, though various other versions have popped up.)
Proponents of the dark web, however, value the anonymity and privacy it provides to journalists, security agencies that need to pass on confidential information, or social or political activists. Edward Snowden, for instance, used Tor to leak information about PRISM to the Guardian and the Washington Post. In addition, some individuals choose to use Tor simply to increase their privacy and security, adding a layer of anonymity to their regular browsing habits.
If you are interested in learning more, check out this TED talk by Jamie Bartlett, a a journalist and author who dove into the dark net.
Reference
- American Kingpin: the epic hunt for the criminal mastermind behind the Silk Road
- Dangers of the deep, dark web (IBM)
- The darknet: a short history (Foreign Policy)
- The Tor project: who pays the bills? (Follow the Money)
- Timesuck with Dan Cummins: murder, drugs, porn, and pirates tales From the dark web (Podcast)
