In the Absence of Light
I am going to tell you about a dark place. A place where, if you go just far enough into the chilling shadows of the blackness, you will reach the most dangerous, mind-scarring places within the internet. A place called the “deep web”. So, with that said, let’s take a field trip!
As tempting as it is to go chat with the world’s finest drug-dealers, murderers, and criminals… let’s learn what it is first. Let’s think about something less morbid, like cake. Say that you have a three-layer cake. The top layer is the “surface web”. You know… that place where you went to look up the lyrics to “Baby Got Back”. Whatever you type into Google, whether in “incognito mode” or not, is being tracked (sorry to break the bad news). However, once you get past the “surface web”, you reach what is called the “deep web”. This is the second layer.
In the “deep web”, it is still safe. Some people say the “deep” and “dark” web are interchangeable. Get these people out of your life, they are liars… or just uninformed. So far, we’ve learned that, on the “surface web”, you can use search engines like Google or Bing. We’ve got that part down. In the “deep web”, you cannot. It’s pretty much that simple. I will not get much more technical (you’re welcome), but will try to explain it. Anything that you use a password for — like a Gmail or Facebook account, financial records, medical records, etc. or anything that is a direct link is part of the “deep web”. About 90% of stuff on the internet is part of the “deep web”. More simply, you don’t type stuff in to get there… you can just click around. Now that I have made you feel like an imbecile, let’s get to the scary stuff — the third layer.
There is a reason they did not name the “dark net” as “bright and happy place for innocent eyes”. I made that name up — so, feel free to be impressed. Inside the “deep web” is a collection of subnetworks that make up the “dark net”. It is “dark” because no one can see it. You cannot access the “deep web” or “dark net” unless you use a free software, like TOR (“The Onion Router”). Most websites will end in “.onion”, so… that’s fun. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, this privacy privilege is often abused. Not even the NSA can access this data… leading to highly illegal activity. I cannot sit here and type some of the things that happen on the “dark net” because they are so sick and horrible. For the sake of knowledge, I will inform you that you can access illegal drugs, assassins to kill people for you, videos of live murders, and even worse activity on the “dark net”. These activities can be found within the “hidden Wiki” which I will not provide a link to because I do not trust you to access this alone (sorry, not sorry). May I remind you, there are loopholes that people who are more tech-savvy than you will be more than happy to use in effort to track you down or hack into your computer, if you are not careful. Not everyone on the “dark net” is a curious little techie such as yourself. Some of these users are extremely sick people, and the last people you want to find you. Something that I cannot emphasize enough: do not go to the “dark net” if you do not know what you are doing.
Again, I am a big fan of knowledge. So that Plato does not roll over in his grave, here is some information you should know if you ever do decide to take the risk. It is recommended that you use operating systems such as Ubuntu, Linux, or Unix Open-Source, along with Tails or TOR Browser. Tails is a live operating system that you can access by using a DVD, USB stick, or SD card, and can preserve your anonymity. The “mom” in me wants to remind you again (she’s kind of a pest): do not go to the “dark net” if you do not know what you are doing.
Obviously, not everyone who goes to the deep or “dark net” is sick and looking to murder someone. Of course, some people just don’t want to be tracked. However, let’s all remember that this is the real world and, in the real world, there are bad people. So, if you ever do decide to dive into the eternal dark abyss, just be careful. Oh, and don’t do drugs.
