Dark web revealed – how the internet’s shadowy twin fuels cybercrime and empowers digital privacy

THE dark web is often painted as a haven for criminals - and while the image is dramatized, there is some truth to it.

The dark web is the part of the internet that isn't indexed by search engines. It can only be accessed using a special browser called Tor, short for The Onion Router.

Unlike publicly accessible sites ending in .com and .org, domains on Tor end in .onion.

While you can access sites from the so-called clearnet in Tor, plugging an onion site into Chrome or Safari won't return results.

Tor works by routing internet traffic through a series of volunteer-operated servers, known as relays, that scramble the data multiple times.

This process creates layers of encryption - hence the "onion" metaphor.

Each relay decrypts a single layer, revealing only the next destination and not the complete routing path, thereby ensuring anonymity.

Tor was released to the public as an open-source project in October 2002. By the end of 2003, the network had about a dozen volunteer nodes - and it has only grown from there.

The software is now maintained by the Tor Project, a non-profit whose mission is rooted in the values of freedom and online security.

While the dark web is commonly depicted as a lawless land, the United States government has always maintained some sort of presence on the browser.

To give you an idea of how deep this involvement runs, the U.S. military was actually involved in Tor's inception.

The network was originally designed to for the United States Naval Research Laboratory in the mid-1990s.

It was intended to protect online communications for U.S. intelligence agencies and military personnel, providing them a way to transmit confidential information without revealing their locations or identities.

Sites on the dark web are just as diverse as those on the clearnet, but some rumors are rooted in truth.

Beyond the highly publicized drug markets, Tor has emerged as a place for hackers to buy and sell stolen information.

In May, a group called ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for a TicketMaster hack that exposed the private data of more than 500 million account holders.

ShinyHunters attempted to sell this information for $500,000 on a dark web site called BreachForums that disappeared and resurfaced several times.

While it is unclear whether the group made the sale before the site was taken down yet again, the breach reaffirmed how the clearnet's shadowy twin is more than just a fantasy.

Criminals have historically favored the dark web for its anonymity - but this also makes it a valuable privacy tool.

For instance, Tor can help civilians escape mass surveillance. Websites that are banned in certain countries have .onion counterparts, including Facebook and outlets like BBC and The New York Times.

Russia has been trying to cut off access to the network for years, and successfully blocked the Tor Project's main site in 2021.

In China, civilians are at the mercy of the Great Firewall, which blocks access to certain foreign websites.

While Tor itself is not illegal in the country, virtual private networks are - and authorities could argue that they serve the same purpose.

In addition to ensuring personal security, the dark web is also a place where whistleblowers can securely share tips with journalists.

WikiLeaks is perhaps the best-known whistleblowing organization on the dark web.

While the group has faced a fair share of controversy, it has also exposed human rights violations at the hands of governments.

This includes leaks about U.S. military action in Afghanistan and Iraq and a 2010 helicopter strike in Baghdad that killed two Reuters journalists.

The use of the dark web to anonymously transmit tips has proven so effective that the CIA unveiled its own onion site in May 2019.

It's worth noting the dark web isn’t a lawless land, either. There has been an increased police presence on Tor in recent years

Authorities often set up “honeypots,” or seemingly legitimate websites that are meant to trap offenders.

Many sites offering illicit content are actually overseen by members of law enforcement who have assumed the identities of site operators.

Many of the largest drug markets - AlphaBay, Empire Market, White House Market, and others - have fallen over the past decade.

One of the most famous sites, Silk Road, was shuttered by the FBI in 2013.

Creator and operator Ross Ulbricht was slapped with multiple charges including conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics.

Ulbricht, who operated under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts," was found guilty on all counts in February 2015 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Silk Road shutdown only galvanized law enforcement to go after other websites with equal gusto.

White hat hackers and IT professionals have noted an increased police presence on the network in recent years.

Cybersecurity expert John Hammond has spent his fair share of time on the dark web.

"I think it's still used for government tracking or opportunities for investigations, using that legal standpoint to see what criminals are up to," Hammond told The U.S. Sun.

"I do see a lot of it is sort of scams, or hoaxes, or stuff to play into that primal instinct or human desires."

Hammond noted that child exploitation sites are in full swing, though he does his best to "stay away from them" as he searches for data leaks.

"Ransomware actors will try to publish all of the stolen data from a company they've hacked into or a business they've breached," Hammond explained.

"They use that to stake their claim - hey, we hacked these people and this is how they're how we're getting our vengeance for them not paying us X million Bitcoin or whatever."

The cybersecurity researcher recalled the time he stumbled across a passport "for a real person, with their mugshot" - and it was this experience that made the issue "come to life" for him.

"That's not super scary, but it just kind of drove it home for me like, yeah, this can be very real," Hammond said.

He noted that some of the more extreme rumors about the dark web could be true, based on users' search behavior.

"Maybe I'm pessimistic, but I feel like people really like the horror stories," Hammond said.

"Historically, between the Silk Road or plenty of other stuff that was shady and spooky, it did have an aspect of reality to it.

"Seeing search engine results for live-streamed torture - it's wild to know that it could exist. It might."

How to protect yourself from cyberattacks

Here's what Mackenzie Tatananni, science and technology reporter at The U.S. Sun, has to say:

It is important to have security in mind anytime you navigate the internet or sign onto your devices. Just because you don't have anything to hide, this doesn't mean you want strangers spying on your activity. (Yes, this includes your internet service providers!)

I am a big proponent of VPNs, or virtual private networks, which encrypt (or "scramble") your data to make it nearly impossible to intercept.

I am also a huge fan of the Tor Browser, though I understand this is not for everyone and can be difficult to navigate for first-time users. (I'll admit it's also not very practical, considering most websites are not indexed on the dark web.)

I find some of the NSA's tips extremely helpful and abide by them myself. For instance, the agency recommends installing a minimal number of applications and only ones from official application stores.

In addition to saving phone storage, this is an effective security measure - most, if not all, apps will track you. While no one is truly defenseless against a malicious actor, there are small steps you can take to protect yourself.

This includes turning off location services for the apps you use (preventing geolocation) and managing other settings, including which apps have access to your photos and other data, in your phone's Settings section.