Deep Web And The Dark Web

By Kanishka Rathore B.Tech (CS) 5th Semester

Introduction:
The Deep Web, hidden web or invisible web is a subset of the World Wide Web which
remains hidden due to many reasons and is not indexed by search engines. It is the
hidden part of the internet that people use for privacy and access things that the
government and other organizations have banned on the regular internet. There are
things that aren’t even available on the internet regular users browse but can be found
easily on the Deep Web.
There is another part of the internet which is known as Dark Web which is a lot deeper
than Deep Web. Individuals can access the Dark Web by using special software such
as Tor (short for The Onion Router). Tor relies upon a network of volunteer computers
to route users’ web traffic through a series of other users’ computers such that the
traffic cannot be traced to the original user.
The Surface Web:
Also known as the Visible Web “Light Net”, or Indexed Web; Surface Web is
everything that you can find on the regular World-Wide-Web. It contains the pages that
are put under “Indexable” to be readily available to its searchers in any Search Engine’s
Result Page. According to the worldwidewebsize.com, “The Web contains minimum
5.28 billion Indexed pages (Wed, 28 Nov’18).” Interestingly enough, the Surface Web
is only approx. 10% of the whole World Wide Web.
The Deep Web:
Internet content is considerably more diverse and the volume certainly much larger
than commonly understood. First, though sometimes used synonymously, the World
Wide Web (HTTP protocol) is but a subset of Internet content. Other Internet protocols
besides the Web include FTP (file transfer protocol), e-mail, news, Telnet, and Gopher
(most prominent among pre-Web protocols). Everyone relies on search engines to be
redirected to whatever they’re looking for. The Deep Web doesn’t have that facility or
say whatever is available in the name of a search engine on the Deep Web is not barely
indexed because of the amount of data and security which is around 7500 TB that is
500 times more than what is on the regular web that too without any encryption.
The Dark Web:
Within the Deep Web, the Dark Web is also growing as new tools make it easier to
navigate. Because individuals may access the Dark Web assuming little risk of
detection, they may use this arena for a variety of legal and illegal activities. It is
unclear, however, how much of the Deep Web is taken up by Dark Web content and
how much of the Dark Web is used for legal or illegal activities. But, it sure is enough
to be taken a note of.
This is how the layers of the Internet looks like:

History of Deep and Dark Web:

Created by the US Office of Naval Research Lab Laboratory in the 1990s & perfected
by DARPA. TOR is an open source Non-Profit Organization running out of a YMCA in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1000s of employees work as volunteers for the network.
No single router knows the entire network (only it’s to and from). Tor can bypass
internet content filtering, restricted government networks (like China) or allow people
to be anonymous whistle blowers. “.onion” links can only be opened on the TOR
network. Communication on the Dark Web happens, via Web, Telnet, IRC, BBS and
other means of communication being developed daily. The Deep Web was coined in
2001 by Bright Planet which specializes in locating content within the dark web.
Accessing the Deep and Dark Web:
TOR Network:
The most used way to access the Dark Web and also the most convenient one is using
the TOR network. TOR stands for The Onion Router. The Tor Browser is an extension
of Mozilla Firefox. It protects the privacy of its users, be anonymous and improve their
security by jumping through various distributed networks and connecting via a group
of virtual tunnels instead of making a straight connection. Both Clear Net and the Dark
Net can be accessed by using Tor browser.
Unlike the links of a clear net website the dark net websites end in onion (dot onion)
domain suffix which is only accessible through a Tor network. In an onion network,
messages are wrapped in layers of encryption, similar to the layers of an onion. Links
of the dark net can easily be found on “hidden wiki” which is a clear net website and
also exists on dark net which maintains database of quite a few darknet links. Usually
the search engines monitor the user and their activities via cookies, which are small
chunks of data which is stored in user’s web browser and this information is then used
to feed advertisements. These cookies works in accordance with the search made or
sites visited and hence let the sites pop advertisement of similar interest.

Other Methods to Access Deep and Dark Web:

VPN:
Some premium VPN’s with good servers in places will give the user the access to the
network and let them browse the onion links. They work on the same model as the
TOR network just with a little more layer to security because of their secure servers
that people pay for.
I2P:
I2P stands for Invisible Internet Project. I2P network is an anonymous overlay network.
Its main aim is to protect communication from surveillance and monitoring by ISP’s
and search engines. I2P’s exclusive goal is to provide a way for users to host services.
It is free open source software which facilitates chatting, blogging and web surfing. It
make use of crypto currency for transactions.
FreeNet:
Freenet is software which lets people secretly share files, view and publish “freesites”
without any fear of censorship and it is very strenuous to detect when used in darknet
mode. It also supports microblogging. It is also a peer to peer network. It differs in the
user interaction way, it separates the under lying layers of protocol and networks from
the user interaction interface.
The Currency of Deep and Dark Web:
Bitcoin is the most widely used currency of the hidden web. There is no way anyone
on the hidden web is going to accept your credit or debit card because of the security
issues involved with it. A Bitcoin is unit of digital currency which is utilized in dark
online markets also referred as crypto markets. On buying a product or employing a
service the customer pays to the site escrow in form of Bitcoins, after the delivery of
product or completion of service, the vendor claims payment from website and the
customer leaves the feedback against the vendor’s account. This reduces the
possibility of fraud to a great extent.
Illegal Activities on Dark Web:
Due to its anonymous nature, the Dark Net has attracted lots of illegal activities such
as Hacking services, hiring contract killers, selling of narcotics, exchange of fake
documents such as pass ports and credit cards, illegal arms, unlicensed
pharmaceuticals, steroids and ammunitions etc.
The most famous illegal activity on the hidden web was the ‘Silk Road’. It was called as
“The Amazon of illegal drugs” which was an online black market launched on February
2011.It was mainly known for selling drugs, stimulants and psychedelics. Silk Road was
shut down by the FBI and its owner was arrested but still the website is functional
under some other means and link. This website had done business of more than $28.5
million in bitcoins.
Legal Measures on the Dark Web:
To stop these illegal activities the FBI and other law enforcing agencies have taken
various steps which involve them being on the hidden web as internal people in some
sort of stings. Many white-hat hackers have been employed by the FBI who make
numerous attempts tracking illegal activities and people associated with them. The
law enforcing agencies are developing new methods and becoming more
technologically savvy to apprehend these criminals.
Future of the Hidden Web.
The deep web tends to become way more secure than what it is in present time,
ameliorating the covertness of darknet and discovering new ways to become more
anonymous. The dark markets will become well built in near future. There will be a
boost of absolutely decentralized markets that depend on Bitcoin’s block chain
technology. Implementation of developed markets shearing even minute breakdown
is expected.
Gauging reputation will become easier in coming time. It has become crucial in the
situation of high obscurity to be able to assure faith and reputation, among vendors
and consumers without having to depend on a foreign authority like banking
organizations as in canonical e-commerce.
Count of users of deep web will boost in near future, since with rise in technology,
awareness will also grow among the users of web, soon there will be a huge increase
in number of users of darknet and Deep Web.
Conclusion:
As we know that the deep web is expanding exponentially, so is the darknet which is
giving way to enormous illegal activities providing platform, which is forcing the law
enforcing agencies to use new unorthodox methods to track these technologically
savvy criminals. These software are frequently used by whistle-blowers, journalists,
military and even terrorist organizations to access a secure channel for
communication.
No one can be completely anonymous on internet but software such as TOR, freenet
and I2P make it extremely strenuous to track its clients. This gives them freedom from
censorship, privacy, a secure channel to communicate.
The future of Deep Web includes much more secured and improvised darknet, more
power and well established market places for darknet, gauging information will
become easier, tracking down of Bitcoins that is the currency of dark markets will
become harder and moreover, with increase in awareness among people will result in
more users of darknet and simultaneous expansion of the same.
References:
 Greenberg, Andy (19 November 2014). "Hacker Lexicon: What Is the dark web?". Wired.
 Beckett, Andy (26 November 2009). "The dark side of the internet"
 Chacos, Brad (12 August 2013). "Meet Darknet, the hidden, anonymous underbelly of the
searchable Web"
 Ashirr K. Kashyap (10 October 2016) Exploring Anonymous Depths of Invisible Web and the
Digi-Underworld