Accessing deep web or dark web is far much easier than peoples think it is. Especially the deep web. In fact, most of you’ve probably visited the deep web without even knowing it. In this article, I am going to share what are these web layers are and how you can access them properly.
Table of Contents
What is the Deep Web?
The deep web is a big part of the internet that doesn’t get indexed by search engines. It is almost about 90% of the internet, which is more than 1000x more prominent than the clear web or surface web that we can access.
Most of the peoples refer deep web as dark web and thinks that accessing the deep web is as illegal as accessing the dark web, but it is not true at all. We visit the deep web’s website almost every single day without even knowing it.
Accessing the Deep Web
A Facebook feed, your email’s inbox are some of the most significant examples of websites in the deep web. These pages don’t get indexed by the search engine crawlers but are exist, and you don’t even know about it. With this, understanding the deep web becomes far easy. Even the definition also suggests that any web page that doesn’t get indexed by search engines but accessible with regular browsers is the part of the deep web.
On the other hand, the dark web, which considered as the most dismal place of the internet, is a tiny portion of the deep web. It is hardly around one or two percent of the overall internet. It is one of the secured but a highly dangerous place on the internet, and without proper safety precautions, entering this world is just going to be horrent for you.
What is the Dark Web?
The dark web is secured with multiple layers of security and encryption so that their users can surf the internet anonymously. Since it is one of the secured places on the internet, it is mainly famous because of the illicit activities happen there. Just name an illegal activity, and I promise the dark web to have something similar to offer. From hiring hitmen to child trafficking, buying and selling computer viruses, drugs, pornography, credit cards, account details, databases, and so many other illegal things are very normal in the dark web.
But it doesn’t mean only bad peoples use the dark web. In fact, it was created by the US government itself to send and receive messages from spies secretly. Not only that, so many journalists, white hat hackers, and whistleblowers like Julian Assange, Daniel Ellsberg, Chelsea Manning, and many others use the dark web to store and share data and communicate with others secretly.
Most of you were thinking when it contains this much illegal stuff, then why the government doesn’t ban it. Even if the government has intentions to shut it entirely, they’re not capable enough to do that. In a precise sense, the dark web is nothing more than a web network that is secured with multiple layers of encryption, and doing that is not unlawful.
How to Access the Dark Web?
Well, accessing the dark web is also not that tough. With a decent knowledge of the internet and browsers, you can easily get into it. But since it is a dangerous place to visit, I suggest you follow some safety precautions that I am sharing with you below so that you won’t get into any trouble.
Use a VPN
We all know that TOR provides multiple layers of IP to make your identity to maintain anonymity. But we can’t entirely rely on that. Anyone with a piece of proper knowledge and time can trace you and kick your ass. Ergo, one should always use a trusted VPN to make sure you won’t face any issue. Check out this article to find best VPN software.
Download the TOR Browser from their official website
TOR had a security issue in the past, but still, it is the best way if you want to get into the dark web. There are some alternatives to it, but they’re not that trusted and reliable. On the internet, you can find 100s of sources to download links, but I would highly recommend you download it only from their official website TorProject.org. We can’t compromise with the security, and who knows, if any source is sharing a compromised version instead.
Install TAILS
TAILS (The Amnesiac Incognito Live System) is an operating system based on Debian Linux that leaves no footprints of user activity. Another great thing about TAILS is that you don’t need to install it physically on your hard drive. You can make a live bootable USB stick and use it without any issue.
Moreover, it comes with TOR pre-installed. Anything you browse on TAILS is automatically routed through the layers of TOR. Also, if it detects any connection that might be harmful to you, it automatically blocks them. You can download it directly from tails.boum.org.
Know the website you’re visiting
The next thing you need to keep in mind is which site you’re visiting. The dark web is not as simple as our surface web. Finding trusted websites is very difficult in that part of the internet, and because of that, there are chances that you easily slip up into a place you shouldn’t.
For someone who is just starting with the dark web, I recommend them to start with the hidden WIKI of the dark web or you can check thedarkweblinks. This site shares active tor sites. You can access it by pasting this URL into your TOR browser.
Use cryptocurrency if you want to make any transactions
I won’t suggest you make any transaction on the dark web. But if it is necessary, then use cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to do that. Entering the details of your credit or debit card on the dark web is not safe at all.
Even after following all these safety precautions, there is no guarantee that you’ll be 100% secure. Also, you should never put any information that can reveal your identity. The dark web is filled with hackers, security experts, malware creators, cybercriminals, and many other peoples whom you don’t like to be near your computer.
Every time you finish your browsing, close every single tab manually. Also, not open any other application at the time when you’re into the dark web and reboot your machine after completing your browsing session.
Now, you know how to access the dark web. Time to wrap this article. This article is just for information purposes. We are not encouraging you to browse deep or dark way.
