How To Get Onto The Dark Web

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Understanding the Dark Web

The dark web is a part of the internet that is not indexed by traditional search engines. It consists of encrypted networks that require specific software to access. The dark web is often associated with illegal activities but also hosts legitimate forums and information.

How to Access the Dark Web

The dark web can help protect users’ privacy in ways the surface web often fails to do. For example, users evading government censorship can share information about what is happening in their country. Whistleblowers often come to the dark web to find allies who can take their secrets and share them more publicly elsewhere. Knowing what types of exploits are being performed on one’s organization allows leaders to plan damage control before something happens.

If you’re wondering how to get onto the dark web, follow these steps carefully to ensure your safety and privacy:

Unless you actively seek it out, you’ll likely never have any contact with the dark web in your lifetime. Sometimes people use the term deep web interchangeably with the dark web, but the two are not the same. The deep web also is inaccessible by search engine, but it’s largely composed of sites and content that aren’t public for reasons like paywalls or privacy concerns. You probably access the deep web regularly without even realizing it. For example, if you log on to your medical provider’s website to send messages to your doctor or to check your latest test results, that’s the deep web.

• Once your personal information is stolen and leaked through data breaches, it becomes scattered across the web, becoming impossible to delete that information from the internet.
• Sites and website pages or forums go up and come down, sometimes in a matter of days, adding another element of navigational difficulty that differentiates the dark web from the surface web.
• Attackers can use tools like keyloggers to gather your data, and they can infiltrate your system on any part of the web.
• And it’s not just a deep web search engine — DuckDuckGo works for surface websites, too.

1. Download the Tor Browser

But as with anything on the web, there’s no way to know if the content is anything more than just bluster and storytelling. Access is created through a backend web application and requires a key to access. While it was originally used by dissidents to circumvent censorship laws, it is now popularly used by cyber criminals to offload stolen and malicious content. Of all internet traffic, the dark web only composes a very small amount. But limiting your search to the surface web and leaving everything below untouched could be a mistake in your research.

The Tor Browser is the most common gateway to the dark web. It allows you to access .onion websites while anonymizing your IP address.

Aleksander Hougen, the managing editor at Cloudwards, is an expert in cloud storage and related technologies. His expertise extends to cloud backup solutions, secure data storage and the broader spectrum of cloud services. His educational background enables him to demystify technical topics, making them accessible and empowering for technology enthusiasts. We have a ‘staging’ version of all of our websites that is blocked from being indexed by search engines, so we can check stories before we set them live. Thus for every page publicly available on this website (and there are literally millions), there is another on the Deep Web. RestorePrivacy is a digital privacy advocacy group committed to helping people stay safe and secure online.

As you can get it by now, the Deep Web contains any content that is protected by a password or any other type of authentication, and which isn’t and mustn’t be indexed by standard search engines. With one simple word, it consists of content that can be misused and cause problems to companies. Internet traffic is secured using adjustable levels of encryption. You can choose 256-bit for maximum protection or 128-bit if you want a faster connection. There are multiple protocol options available and protection against IPv6 leaks and DNS leaks.

The Tor network and other networks that use onion routing emerged to protect online communications; not to support criminal actions. The Onion Router (hence the Tor acronym) uses three layers of encryption and a specific internet traffic routing mechanism to ensure complete anonymity. It combines strong layers of encryption with the ability to randomly bounce internet traffic through the Tor network of relays. Tor stands for “the onion routing project.” It was developed by the U.S. Tor is now the dark web browser that the vast majority of people use to anonymously surf the internet.

2. Install a VPN

Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can add an extra layer of security by hiding your internet activity from your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

3. Configure Your Settings

Before using the Tor Browser, modify the security settings to enhance protection against potential threats.

4. Access .onion Websites

Once the Tor Browser is installed, you can visit sites with a .onion extension. These sites require the Tor network to be accessed.

5. Practice Safe Browsing

Avoid disclosing personal information. Stay aware of potential scams and malicious content while browsing.

Safety Precautions