What Is Darknet & How To Access It
A Darknet is an overlay network that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization, often using non-standard communications protocols and ports.
The Dark Net, Deep Net or The Hidden Internet are anonymous that means you will not be able to know the website owner or to who the website belongs too, Over the usual Internet,
A non-indexed website owner or website developer can be tracked by doing some Internet searches or wondering to different sites. However, web pages on the Dark Net or say Dark Web are using the TOR (The Onion Router) network and the foundation of the TOR is to include numerous nodes, so the source is not traceable.
The Deep Web and the Darknet
Most people are confused about what exactly the Darknet is. Firstly, the Darknet is sometimes confused with the Deep Web. 'Deep Web' refers to all parts of the Internet which cannot be indexed by search engines, and so can't be found through Google, Bing, Yahoo, and so forth. Experts believe that this Deep Web is hundreds of times larger than the 'surface Web' (i.e., the internet you can easily get to from Google).
Birth of the Darknet
October 29, 1969
Charley Kline, a student at the University of California, Los Angeles, types out the first message between computers connected by ARPANET, the Internet progenitor developed by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Darknets were able to receive data from ARPANET but had addresses that did not appear in the network lists and would not answer pings or other inquiries.
Just a few years later, a number of isolated, secretive networks begin to appear alongside ARPANET. Some eventually become known as "Darknets."
Birth of The Onion Router
September 20, 2002
Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory release an early version of Tor ("The Onion Router"), which conceals the location and IP address of users who download the software. Originally designed to protect the identity of American operatives and dissidents in repressive countries like China, Tor also has another natural constituency: denizens of the darknet.
As of 2015 "The Darknet" is often used interchangeably with the dark web due to the quantity of hidden services on Tor's darknet. The term is often used inaccurately and interchangeably with the deep web search due to Tor's history as a platform that could not be search indexed. Mixing uses of both of these terms has been described as inaccurate, with some commentators recommending the terms be used in distinct fashions
Currency of the darknet
Bitcoin...
Bitcoin plays an important role throughout the Darknet. Since staying anonymous is key, Bitcoin is the only currency you can pay with there. Unlike the “normal” web almost every other website has the “Bitcoin accepted” sign displayed on it. Because of Bitcoin’s pseudo-anonymous nature, it’s the perfect currency to power such an ecosystem.
on January 3, 2009 A man calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto "mines" the first Bitcoin, a form of untraceable cryptocurrency. Unlike previous digital currencies that failed because there was nothing to prevent users from literally copying their money, Bitcoin makes use of an innovative public accounting ledger that prevents double spending. Unsurprisingly, the cryptocurrency is an instant hit in the darknet, its anonymity making it a perfect tool for money laundering and criminal activity.
1 Bitcoin equals 468.53 US Dollar as of 28/may/2016
The Uses of Darknet
Darknets in general may be used for various reasons, such as:
To better protect the privacy rights of citizens from targeted and mass surveillance
Protecting dissidents from political reprisal
Whistleblowing and news leaks
Computer crime (hacking, file corruption etc.)
Sale of restricted goods on Darknet markets
File sharing (porography, confidential files, illegal or counterfeit software etc.)
Access the Darknet
All darknets network require specific software installed or network configurations made to access them
To access the hidden web you need two things – for starter The Onion Browser (also known as TOR Browser) that can access dot onion pages and a search engine or web page that can help you to search the dark web.
Recently there are many websites that are known as the deep web directories. Since they are hidden and are unable to search due to the reason that they are not listed correctly. Most of the links on such directories do not guide you where the link will lead to.
Here is some software used to access the darknet
1) Tor the most popular instance of a darknet
So what is Tor?
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.
The Tor network is a group of volunteer-operated servers that allows people to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Tor's users employ this network by connecting through a series of virtual tunnels rather than making a direct connection, thus allowing both organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy. Along the same line, Tor is an effective censorship circumvention tool, allowing its users to reach otherwise blocked destinations or content. Tor can also be used as a building block for software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features.What is Tor?
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.
Other Popular Deep Web Technologies
I2P – This is an anonymity network which you may find slightly more techie to install and get running, but once you do there are some great tools and apps, including one to make it easier for you to set up your own hidden blog.
FAI (Free Anonymous Internet) – Based on blockchain technology, this network allows for the anonymous publishing and browsing of content and has a social network style homepage that lets you follow other users, share content with your followers, and tip the creators of content you like. FreeNet – One of the older and most highly regarded systems,
FreeNet combines deep web with DarkNet. This means that you can maintain a list of trusted peers and either connect to them only, or connect to them in preference to less trusted peers. As far as I know, this gives the highest level of privacy and security of any system, but does require a little more effort to make the most of.
ZeroNet – Based on torrent technology in combination with Bitcoin encryption, this is a new system which is not well developed but which I think holds promise for the future.
Is this safe to browse the Dark Net?
All safety depends on you. What you are looking for? You can create a private chat room where you can talk with your friends, or you can also hire a person for the wet job(for the wrong work). It could be a journalist for exchanging of intelligence documentation, or someone selling illegal drugs. There are also websites that sell unlicensed weapons.
If you are willing to analyze the types of sites that are accessible on the darknet, then a majority of web sites usually belongs to the Gangsters. Why, due to the fact that it gives you full anonymity. You will find some forum where people will be talking about suicides, murders and the odd things they did. And If you have a week heart than don’t even think to search that!
How to stay anonymous when surfing the Darknet
In order to access the Tor network you have to remain anonymous, this is not a request, it’s a prerequisite. This is done through a special web browser called, surprisingly enough, TOR. TOR stands for “The Onion Router”, it got its name from the fact that in order to reveal the core user of the browser you’ll have to peel a lot of layers off just like an onion.
You can use TOR to surf the pedestrian web (the everyday Internet you know ) anonymously, or you can use it to access the Darknet.
Here’s the deal:
When you access the pedestrian Internet , you are directly communicating with websites. But when you’re accessing a website through TOR it’s like asking another user to ask another user to ask another user to fetch the webpage information for you. This is of course a over simplified explanation but the general idea is that communications bounce around a lot of different computers and it makes it very difficult to track who is actually viewing a website, sending an email or conducting any other action.
It also makes the Internet connection extremely slow, but for now here’s what you need to know about TOR:
It’s a free to download browser, The browser is built on top of the Firefox browser’s open source code so it’s pretty intuitive. Once you download and launch it it will connect you to the TOR network and you’re good to go.
TOR network was initially created by the US military to communicate anonymously. They still dump government files – not open to the general public – on the Darknet. Since the federal and other governments are themselves using the Darknet, they do not consider it feasible to order TOR to shut it down.
Additional security – using VPN
Although no one knows your identity when using TOR, some people like to add an additional layer of protection and connect to TOR through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The reason is, that even though you’re anonymous, you can still be identified as using TOR for “something”.
Important security steps when using the Darknet
Turn off running scripts in the TOR options (click the button just before the address bar). This is because most of the sites in Darknet are criminal in nature. If you land on one, they might want to trace you down. And scripts created using JavaScript can be dangerous if they manage to store something on your computer.
Think twice before you click any link as you do not know who operates the website and where any of these links lead to. Use only known directories to reach authenticated destinations.
DO NOT DOWNLOAD ANYTHING TO YOUR COMPUTER. No BitTorrents and no downloads as they may give away your actual IP when storing things to your computer.
This is not for you
In all likelihood, you’ll never need to venture into the Deep Web. The Surface Web contains all the services and tools the average person could ever want. You won’t find any streaming video services or social networks or corporate websites you will feel like you are using the internet on 1990 .
months ago few social networks start to appear on the darknet but it's not yet that large and its not for your daily life ! it's a darknet social network ! can you imagine a social network that was made only for mafia men !
The Darknet is fraught with bogeymen just waiting for you to let down your guard.
you will be an easy target on the darknet for those who are waiting to catch the new victim ! don't be the victim everyone is looking for !
But if you ever do need the sanctity of secure communications and true anonymity
a level of protection that the Surface Web simply can’t provide then rest easy.
Everyone has a voice in the Darknet, down in the depths where even Google’s spiders fear to crawl.
This post was written for educational purposes only. If you wish to use the Darknet, do it at your own discretion and at your own risk. Make sure to be aware of any consequences that may follow.
The Dark Net, Deep Net or The Hidden Internet are anonymous that means you will not be able to know the website owner or to who the website belongs too, Over the usual Internet,
A non-indexed website owner or website developer can be tracked by doing some Internet searches or wondering to different sites. However, web pages on the Dark Net or say Dark Web are using the TOR (The Onion Router) network and the foundation of the TOR is to include numerous nodes, so the source is not traceable.
The Deep Web and the Darknet
Most people are confused about what exactly the Darknet is. Firstly, the Darknet is sometimes confused with the Deep Web. 'Deep Web' refers to all parts of the Internet which cannot be indexed by search engines, and so can't be found through Google, Bing, Yahoo, and so forth. Experts believe that this Deep Web is hundreds of times larger than the 'surface Web' (i.e., the internet you can easily get to from Google).
Birth of the Darknet
October 29, 1969
Charley Kline, a student at the University of California, Los Angeles, types out the first message between computers connected by ARPANET, the Internet progenitor developed by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Darknets were able to receive data from ARPANET but had addresses that did not appear in the network lists and would not answer pings or other inquiries.
Just a few years later, a number of isolated, secretive networks begin to appear alongside ARPANET. Some eventually become known as "Darknets."
Birth of The Onion Router
September 20, 2002
Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory release an early version of Tor ("The Onion Router"), which conceals the location and IP address of users who download the software. Originally designed to protect the identity of American operatives and dissidents in repressive countries like China, Tor also has another natural constituency: denizens of the darknet.
As of 2015 "The Darknet" is often used interchangeably with the dark web due to the quantity of hidden services on Tor's darknet. The term is often used inaccurately and interchangeably with the deep web search due to Tor's history as a platform that could not be search indexed. Mixing uses of both of these terms has been described as inaccurate, with some commentators recommending the terms be used in distinct fashions
Currency of the darknet
Bitcoin...
Bitcoin plays an important role throughout the Darknet. Since staying anonymous is key, Bitcoin is the only currency you can pay with there. Unlike the “normal” web almost every other website has the “Bitcoin accepted” sign displayed on it. Because of Bitcoin’s pseudo-anonymous nature, it’s the perfect currency to power such an ecosystem.
on January 3, 2009 A man calling himself Satoshi Nakamoto "mines" the first Bitcoin, a form of untraceable cryptocurrency. Unlike previous digital currencies that failed because there was nothing to prevent users from literally copying their money, Bitcoin makes use of an innovative public accounting ledger that prevents double spending. Unsurprisingly, the cryptocurrency is an instant hit in the darknet, its anonymity making it a perfect tool for money laundering and criminal activity.
1 Bitcoin equals 468.53 US Dollar as of 28/may/2016
The Uses of Darknet
Darknets in general may be used for various reasons, such as:
To better protect the privacy rights of citizens from targeted and mass surveillance
Protecting dissidents from political reprisal
Whistleblowing and news leaks
Computer crime (hacking, file corruption etc.)
Sale of restricted goods on Darknet markets
File sharing (porography, confidential files, illegal or counterfeit software etc.)
Access the Darknet
All darknets network require specific software installed or network configurations made to access them
To access the hidden web you need two things – for starter The Onion Browser (also known as TOR Browser) that can access dot onion pages and a search engine or web page that can help you to search the dark web.
Recently there are many websites that are known as the deep web directories. Since they are hidden and are unable to search due to the reason that they are not listed correctly. Most of the links on such directories do not guide you where the link will lead to.
Here is some software used to access the darknet
1) Tor the most popular instance of a darknet
So what is Tor?
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.
The Tor network is a group of volunteer-operated servers that allows people to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Tor's users employ this network by connecting through a series of virtual tunnels rather than making a direct connection, thus allowing both organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy. Along the same line, Tor is an effective censorship circumvention tool, allowing its users to reach otherwise blocked destinations or content. Tor can also be used as a building block for software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features.What is Tor?
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.
Other Popular Deep Web Technologies
I2P – This is an anonymity network which you may find slightly more techie to install and get running, but once you do there are some great tools and apps, including one to make it easier for you to set up your own hidden blog.
FAI (Free Anonymous Internet) – Based on blockchain technology, this network allows for the anonymous publishing and browsing of content and has a social network style homepage that lets you follow other users, share content with your followers, and tip the creators of content you like. FreeNet – One of the older and most highly regarded systems,
FreeNet combines deep web with DarkNet. This means that you can maintain a list of trusted peers and either connect to them only, or connect to them in preference to less trusted peers. As far as I know, this gives the highest level of privacy and security of any system, but does require a little more effort to make the most of.
ZeroNet – Based on torrent technology in combination with Bitcoin encryption, this is a new system which is not well developed but which I think holds promise for the future.
Is this safe to browse the Dark Net?
All safety depends on you. What you are looking for? You can create a private chat room where you can talk with your friends, or you can also hire a person for the wet job(for the wrong work). It could be a journalist for exchanging of intelligence documentation, or someone selling illegal drugs. There are also websites that sell unlicensed weapons.
If you are willing to analyze the types of sites that are accessible on the darknet, then a majority of web sites usually belongs to the Gangsters. Why, due to the fact that it gives you full anonymity. You will find some forum where people will be talking about suicides, murders and the odd things they did. And If you have a week heart than don’t even think to search that!
How to stay anonymous when surfing the Darknet
In order to access the Tor network you have to remain anonymous, this is not a request, it’s a prerequisite. This is done through a special web browser called, surprisingly enough, TOR. TOR stands for “The Onion Router”, it got its name from the fact that in order to reveal the core user of the browser you’ll have to peel a lot of layers off just like an onion.
You can use TOR to surf the pedestrian web (the everyday Internet you know ) anonymously, or you can use it to access the Darknet.
Here’s the deal:
When you access the pedestrian Internet , you are directly communicating with websites. But when you’re accessing a website through TOR it’s like asking another user to ask another user to ask another user to fetch the webpage information for you. This is of course a over simplified explanation but the general idea is that communications bounce around a lot of different computers and it makes it very difficult to track who is actually viewing a website, sending an email or conducting any other action.
It also makes the Internet connection extremely slow, but for now here’s what you need to know about TOR:
It’s a free to download browser, The browser is built on top of the Firefox browser’s open source code so it’s pretty intuitive. Once you download and launch it it will connect you to the TOR network and you’re good to go.
TOR network was initially created by the US military to communicate anonymously. They still dump government files – not open to the general public – on the Darknet. Since the federal and other governments are themselves using the Darknet, they do not consider it feasible to order TOR to shut it down.
Additional security – using VPN
Although no one knows your identity when using TOR, some people like to add an additional layer of protection and connect to TOR through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The reason is, that even though you’re anonymous, you can still be identified as using TOR for “something”.
Important security steps when using the Darknet
Turn off running scripts in the TOR options (click the button just before the address bar). This is because most of the sites in Darknet are criminal in nature. If you land on one, they might want to trace you down. And scripts created using JavaScript can be dangerous if they manage to store something on your computer.
Think twice before you click any link as you do not know who operates the website and where any of these links lead to. Use only known directories to reach authenticated destinations.
DO NOT DOWNLOAD ANYTHING TO YOUR COMPUTER. No BitTorrents and no downloads as they may give away your actual IP when storing things to your computer.
This is not for you
In all likelihood, you’ll never need to venture into the Deep Web. The Surface Web contains all the services and tools the average person could ever want. You won’t find any streaming video services or social networks or corporate websites you will feel like you are using the internet on 1990 .
months ago few social networks start to appear on the darknet but it's not yet that large and its not for your daily life ! it's a darknet social network ! can you imagine a social network that was made only for mafia men !
The Darknet is fraught with bogeymen just waiting for you to let down your guard.
you will be an easy target on the darknet for those who are waiting to catch the new victim ! don't be the victim everyone is looking for !
But if you ever do need the sanctity of secure communications and true anonymity
a level of protection that the Surface Web simply can’t provide then rest easy.
Everyone has a voice in the Darknet, down in the depths where even Google’s spiders fear to crawl.
This post was written for educational purposes only. If you wish to use the Darknet, do it at your own discretion and at your own risk. Make sure to be aware of any consequences that may follow.
Sufyan Hacker (Author)
