What is dark web? What is it like? Is it safe? We’re going to take a look at the dark web and look in depth at what it is all about.
What is the dark web?
The dark web is a part of the web we all know and love, but it’s a hidden part of the internet. This is why you can’t see it without just going to your favorite search engine.
It is a collection of websites and webpages accessible only via special browsers that you have to download just like you did with Chrome or Bing. This means that there are parts of the internet that Google cannot see. Users who navigate websites on the dark web are visiting websites that are invisible to common search engines.
Why is this? The dark web is where secretive things may go on. It is often used to communicate anonymously for any number of reasons. These websites are intentionally hidden and difficult to access.
How can you access the dark web?
There are different ways to access dark web websites.
Applications such as Tor make accessing the dark web easy. Just install the application and enter a dark web url (often known as an onion link) will open it.
There are numerous websites that are hosted on the dark web, for example, the hidden web, which allows anyone to search the dark web much like you would search on Chrome.
This said, a lot of people use an additional layer of protection by using a VPN. Virtual private networks allow you to get an IP address and domain name for a computer that does not belong to you. They are private, meaning that if someone scans the internet for your IP address, they will not find your IP. However, they do not protect you against websites which are not visited while the VPN is inactive.
Other applications make the whole dark web experience easier, for example portable tools such as Tails can be used to make navigating on the dark web a bit easier.
Is the dark web safe?
To answer that, we have to take a look at what it means to use the dark web and what it actually is. When you use a dark web website, you are not accessing any secure services. You are simply visiting another part of the internet and there’s no telling who is watching if they control the exit nodes.
All of the websites that you find on the dark web are not necessarily safe and some of them use trojans, viruses and other programs to steal your login information or install malicious programs on your computer if you download and launch exe files.
All in all, the dark web is safe if you enter safe websites. As mentioned before, that is not always easy. Always be cautious. Only visit dark web websites once you know what you’re doing and always err on the side of caution.
The dark web is also known as the Deep Web, Tor Web, Invisible Web, Deep Web or Dark Web.