What is Dark Web or Darknet?

You all know that the internet we use in our daily life is not as simple as it appears. But it is more complex than we think. It's like an ocean on the surface of which, normal user surf. It's a typical task to measure the depth of this ocean whose name is Internet. Some divers who have resources, some extra knowledge and experience have access to dark web, "The Dark Side" of this Ocean.
&nbsp Normal traditional websites that we see on daily basis can be easily accessed through browsers like Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer etc.. These websites usually have domains like .com, .net, .gov etc. but the websites of darkweb (also called dark websites) have domain '.onion' can be accessed only through Tor(The onion router). Now let us understand what the term darkweb or darknet really mean.

Understanding the term Dark Web

To understand this term, you should know the three basic parts or contents of the internet. These are as follows :
1. Surface-web / clear-net
2. Deep-web / Deep-net
3. Dark-web / Dark net

1. Surface web or Clear-net

This part contains the various contents of internet that are indexed by the Search Engines and we see in our daily life when we search or google about any information over the internet. There is no new to know about this part of internet because you use part of the internet on daily basis. This is the part that contains Google, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia and many more. So, what is Deepweb now ?

2. Deep web or Deep-net

Deep web is the part of internet is not indexed by search engines. These may include information like medical researchers, School fee details of a student and Defence related informations. It is the information that owner, due to some reasons (security reasons or other), didn't want to share on the surface-net. It can only be accessed by the owner or the authorized people who are allowed by owner to view it. You can say that your bank details and google activities or history falls in this category as no one can view these information except you or sometimes by service provider.

3. Dark web or Dark-net

The third and last one is darkweb, the one that most of us may not have encountered yet. The dark web can be accessed only through Tor browser. Many times, dark web get relates to the criminal activities like human trafficking, illegal hunting, terrorist funding, drugs and weapons black marketing and many more like these. But this does not means that it is a dangerous place of internet.

Difference between Darkweb and Deepweb

Though both the terms are confused with each other but both are different. The deep web contains the pages which are not indexed, and hence most search engines won’t return them to you after a search. This is due to the crawlers which are unable to ‘see’ these pages, making them invisible to these search engines. One may need the password, encryption or special software to access the pages of deep web. It is estimated that deep web is nearly five times larger than the surface net. On the other hand, dark web contains unindexed pages that can't be accessed by any browser or software except Tor (The onion router). The real size of dark web is not known. The identity of the people using it is also unknown. Dark web provides a high security to its users and that is why it is the favourite place of hackers and criminals. Different types of illegal activities are done behind the wall of Darknet. Cryptocurrencies are used as a medium of payment which again hides the security of criminal-minded people on the internet. But one can't say that the darknet is only have disadvantages. It has some advantages also like if a person wants to share some necessary information and for any reason, don't want to reveal his/her identity then he/she can deliver it through darknet. Since, it provides high security, no one will be able to detect him/her. So, there is a freedom of speech and no one is going to block you. You can't be tracked by anyone. But, why it is called a Dark side of the internet ?

    It is because the links provided on dark sites may leads to some malicious sites. Also, terrorist-funding is one of the crimes that are linked with Darkweb. Many organizations and IT experts suggest that common people who do not have proper knowledge about this part of internet should avoid it. You can get what you want simply on the surface-net or clear-net. So, one should avoid the deeper or darker side of net world until it is necessary.

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