What is the ‘Deep Web’ & ‘Dark Web’?

‘Dark Web’ & ‘Deep Web’ Explained: The UK government had launched a dedicated cybercrime unit to tackle the Dark Web. Forbes has an article titled “Insider Trading on the Dark Web”.

Dark Web

Its a secret collection of websites that exists on an encrypted network which cannot be found using regular search engines or the usual browsers.

To all those users, who can remain anonymous and hide their locations, the dark web is a marketplace from which to trade any number of things.

Not all of it is criminal though.

People living in countries controlled by totalitarian regimes (North Korea) can use it to communicate with the rest of the world, while it has also been used by whistle-blowers to expose secrets that have shocked the world, through organisations like WikiLeaks.

But because of its nature, an extremely sinister side exists, and you can find a shocking array of illegal goods and activities:

• Small jobs like email, Facebook etc hacking (€200)
• Medium-large job, ruining people, espionage, website hacking etc (€500)
• Large job” (costs €800), no details are usually provided.
• Get people’s names, addresses and credit card details
• Access to PayPal or eBay accounts for $100 apiece
• Thousands of usernames and passwords belonging to social media users
• UK driving licences being sold for €1000.
• Once your data is compromised, it can either be used by the criminals directly to take your money, or passed on for cash.
• Bitcoin is the only currency available on the dark web as it keeps transactions anonymous.

So I guess that gives you an idea of what ‘Dark Web’ is. But there is something known as the ‘Deep Web’ too, and we will take a look at the two.

People started becoming aware of the Deep Web after it came out in the public in 2013 when the FBI closed the underground marketplace called “The Silk Road.” The creator was arrested after he attempted to recruit a hit man through the Deep Web who was an undercover FBI agent.

Silk Road’s Incredible Story (Internet Drug Marketplace)

Other menaces such as drugs, passports, weapons, illegal pornography content, etc. are also sold on the Deep Web.

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While the media might say that both of them include illicit/scary stuff, that’s really not true. That is also the reason why many chose not to explore these topics further, because the names oozes mystery and skepticism. Some media is inaccurately defining both and we want to clear up the confusion.

Here’s a basic difference between the two (and your normal search):

1. Surface Web: This is what we all are familiar with. It includes everything that can be indexed by a typical search engine like Google, Bing or Yahoo.
2. Deep Web: This is the opposite of Surface Web. While Surface Web includes everything that a search engine can find, Deep Web includes anything that a search engine can’t find. Most of the content located in the Deep Web exists is not illicit and scary (as the media portrays).
3. Dark Web: Just dig a little deeper in the Internet and you’ll find the Dark Web. The Dark Web is basically a small portion of the Deep Web that has been intentionally hidden (and as expected, it cannot be accessed through standard web browsers)

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