What is the Dark Web?

What is the Dark Web? Is it different from a normal web? How Dark Web differs from the deep web? These are some questions we come across every day. But many of us don’t know what these are? Right? So, in that case, we will help you with that in today’s blog. So, let’s start without further delay.

What is the Deep Web?

So, first, let me clear one thing that dark web and deep web are not the same. The deep web is a web where the web pages don’t possess any index. Moreover, web pages are not made visible to search engines. The indexing of web pages is very important. Therefore, in the deep web, the search engine returns nothing for a search made. Hence, to access any web page on the deep web, you need to know the exact IP address. 

What is the Dark Web?

So, now it’s clear that dark web and deep web differ from each other. But the dark web is a layer inside the deep web. So, it’s more difficult to access.  The dark web is a collection of several websites (dark websites). You can also call dark web as an onion web or darknet. All these websites use some tools to hide their IP address from others. Some examples of those tools are Tor and I2P. Some people believe that on the dark web, one can find all the illegal things. Like child pornography sites selling illegal drugs, acids, etc. 

Hiding in Plain Sight 

Some large sites use Tor software to hide their IP address from the search engines. While smaller sites use smaller software, I2P for the same job. When users run Tor, the sites they visit cannot see their own IP address. But here’s a twist. If a site runs Tor, then only a user running Tor can visit that site. But,  it doesn’t mean that a site is a secret if its IP address is hidden. 

What You Can Find on Dark Web?

You can easily find the following things on the dark web.

1. Very rare book.
2. Marketplace for the sales of illegal drugs, weapons, chemicals, etc.
3. Pornography content, sometimes, of children.
4. Fake currency and bitcoins.
5. Illegal videos, etc.

These and many more filthy things are easily available over the dark web.

Is it Illegal to Access a Dark or Deep Web?

No, it is not illegal to access a dark web or deep web. Accessing any of the two webs isn’t illegal. But to look into all the illegal things available on these webs is illegal. But for a common man, it is advisable to stay away from these webs. This is because these webs can easily steal your personal information. 

Cautions While Accessing a Dark Web

First, never visit the dark or deep web. Because for a common internet user, it’s a dangerous place to visit. Visiting any random site over the dark web without precautions is like visiting a village infected with Ebola virus. 

Malware

When you browse through the dark web, sometimes you may infect your device with Malware. Malware is software that targets a computer with a negative purpose. A visitor to a website on this dark web makes his/her computer accessible to various harmful programs. For example, Vawtrack, Skynet, etc. 

Government Surveillance 

On the dark web, there are also various politically oriented sites. So, visiting such sites can invite the attention of those government authorities. Also, in some countries, it is illegal to browse the government’s official site. It can lead to jail. Therefore, now the government is doing everything possible to make the dark web safer to browse. Now, the government can use another software, Memex. This software stores the dark sites and analyzes them later for any harm.

Conclusion 

So, be it dark web or deep web, both are suitable for only hackers. A common user need not browse on these webs. Because doing so can lead to various harmful outcomes. Hence, it is advisable not to go into a dark or deep web for self-protection.