What Is the Dark Web?
The dark web refers to the parts of the internet that do not exist on typical browsers and sites. Instead, they exist on a network called Tor. Tor, often named the “onion router,” reroutes users’ traffic, ensuring all activities won’t be discovered by the typical internet lurker.
Tor hosts certain sites called Hidden Services. As suggested by their name, Hidden Services use hidden IP addresses, obscuring the sites’ content, hosts, and users. These sites offer a layer of anonymity and security from prying eyes, which is why they have frequently become home to online criminals. Dark web markets allow these criminals to pursue their activities seemingly without intervention from law enforcement. Items for purchase can include anything from opioids to access to an individual’s social security information.
Nefarious services and goods sold in these markets include:
- Illegal drugs
- Personal identifiers, like social security numbers
- Hacked information
- Bomb parts
The dark web is also used in other ways, such as hiding from cyber attacks. Some users believe the dark web provides a means for private communications. For example, a journalist might use this portion of the internet to correspond with a source who wishes to obscure their identity. While not all dark web activities maintain a nefarious goal, crimes on this anonymized section of the internet have rapidly increased and will continue to grow.
Why is the Dark Web Useful?
With so many criminal activities rampant on the dark web, users might wonder why they would want to explore it. For law enforcement investigators, this is precisely the reason for performing dark web operations. Feeling protected by a safety net of “anonymity,” many users leave their personal information exposed here. In doing so, this murky section of the internet has acquired an expanse of publicly available information. Investigators can use this data to support their current findings or develop a new case. For serious investigations, locating the right data can mean the difference between saving an enterprise and losing it to the demands of hackers.
How Can You Access the Dark Web?
Dark web sites can only be accessed through the Tor network, which means users often log in through the Tor browser. But this isn’t the most secure method for exploring darknet sites. The Tor browser could still expose an investigator’s online activities through comparing the timing and volume of users’ web traffic. Despite a shield of “anonymous browsing,” the Tor browser does not provide 100% protection from cyber attacks. Law enforcement investigators need to access the dark web safely to locate evidence of illegal activities and undermine criminals without risking attacks from threat actors. Ntrepid’s Nfusion includes a new Tor browser extension, enabling all users to perform undercover darknet investigations alongside the typical internet-based activities they would have already performed with the product.
To offer further insight into dark web operations, we’ve also written a blog on how to access it, and the components required to excel when operating on this shadowy portion of the internet.
