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The dark web is an unregulated and popular environment for illegal activity. As above, make sure you’re only visiting .onion sites you trust and don’t share any personal information. Another alternative is Freenet; like I2P, it won’t give you access to.onion links — only content that was uploaded to Freenet. Like I2P, it uses a distributed network database for added assurance against cyber attacks. It runs automatically in your web browser, so I recommend using a different browser than you normally do to ensure privacy. Before engaging in any dark web activities, I recommend researching sites ahead of time — use your regular browser to look online and see which sites are reputable.
Identifying specific individuals who use the dark web can be quite tricky. However, we advise connecting to one of our recommended VPN services to stay anonymous. The Tor network was created by the US military in the 1990s for anonymous communication between spies over the internet.
How big is the internet in GB?
In 2020, the amount of data on the internet hit 64 zetabytes. A zetabyte is about a trillion gigabytes. One way to estimate the size of the Internet is to look at the amount of information created, captured, copied, and consumed on the web.
For those curious about the hidden corners of the internet, the dark web offers a mysterious and often misunderstood world to explore. With its reputation for illicit activities and anonymity, accessing the black web can be intriguing for some. If you’re interested in learning how to get on the dark web, here are some key steps to follow:
1. Use Tor Browser
How To Access The Dark Web From Any Device – Full Guides For 2024
To access the dark web, you’ll need to use a special browser that allows you to browse anonymously. The most popular choice is the Tor Browser, which routes your internet traffic through a series of servers to hide your identity.
2. Download and Install Tor
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To get started, download the Tor Browser from the official website and follow the installation instructions. Once installed, launch the browser and you’ll be ready to start exploring the dark web.
DuckDuckGo does not track its users and serves non-personalized search results. Based on the company’s study, approximately 60 million people use DuckDuckGo to search online (as of June 2020). Dark Web websites often run on networks of private servers, allowing communication only via specific means. This enables a high degree of anonymity and makes it difficult for authorities to shut down – which, unfortunately, makes the Dark Web a hotbed for many illegal or immoral activities.
What’s Hidden In The Dark Web?
3. Find Onion Websites
The dark web consists of websites with addresses ending in .onion instead of .com or .net. These websites are not indexed by traditional search engines, so you’ll need to know the exact URL to access them. There are directories and forums that list onion websites for browsing.
Is It Legal To Browse The Dark Web?
The deep web is the first level beneath the “surface” of the visible web — and it’s significantly larger than the surface web, accounting for an estimated 96% to 99% of the entire internet. So, why would someone not want their website to be picked up by a search engine? The individuals and organizations on the dark web often engage in illegal activities and want to keep their identities hidden — something that is difficult to do with an indexed website. In 2008, the Tor Project launched the official Tor Browser, which is now the most popular way to access the dark web. Depending on where you are, accessing the dark web might be illegal.
4. Stay Safe and Anonymous
Thanks to the Tor browser’s layers of encryption and IP scrambling, it’s difficult to track people down on this part of the web. In fact, there are instances where individuals can use it for good. Whistleblowers, for instance, can find the anonymity available through the dark web valuable when working with the FBI or another law enforcement organization. In fact, it’s better in the interest of privacy that these pages aren’t readily visible. From this example, you can see that the “deep web” doesn’t have to be scary, illicit, or illegal. It’s further important to distinguish the deep web from the dark web — as the next section explains.
When browsing the dark web, it’s important to take precautions to protect your identity and stay safe. Avoid sharing personal information, disable JavaScript, and use a VPN for an extra layer of security.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Once you have installed Tor, you can access the dark web by entering specific URLs or web addresses into the browser’s address bar.
- The dark web, also called the darknet or black web, refers to websites that are not indexed by normal search engines and need special software like Tor to access.
- As a result, you’ll need to rely on other browsers that let you connect to the Tor network.
- The reality is that millions of personal information, account records, credit card numbers and other sensitive documents are leaked on the dark web every day.
- The last time I checked, it’s estimated that the entire web is roughly 500 times larger than what Google returns in Google Search.
- Is it illegal to access the dark web?
- Can I be tracked on the dark web?
- What kind of content can I find on the dark web?
No, accessing the dark web itself is not illegal. However, engaging in illegal activities on the dark web is against the law.
While the dark web provides anonymity, it is not foolproof. Law enforcement agencies and hackers can still track users through various means.
The Tor browser is able to access the special domain names, with the suffix .onion, used in the dark web. Accessing the dark web is not necessarily riskier than browsing the surface or deep web. And depending on what you’re using the dark web for, it may actually be safer because of its heightened privacy protections. To use the dark web safely, stick to recommended security practices, like clicking only on trusted links and using antivirus software. Tor is a web browser used to stay anonymous online or access dark web. Tor shares similarities with VPNs and proxy servers in that all these tools enable some level of anonymous browsing.
The dark web hosts a wide range of content, including forums, marketplaces, and sites dedicated to privacy and freedom of speech. However, it also contains illegal activities such as drug trafficking and hacking services.
By following these steps and exercising caution, you can safely explore the dark web and discover its hidden depths. Remember to always proceed with caution and respect the laws and regulations of your jurisdiction.
What is the safest search engine?
- DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo is a popular private search engine that emphasizes user privacy by not tracking your searches or storing personal information.
- Qwant.
- Startpage.
- Searx.
- Swisscows.
- MetaGer.
- Mojeek.
- Ecosia.