How to access the dark web and what you can find

When you jump into the dark web, one click can put your life at stake!

What we know is a drop. What we don’t know is an ocean.

Hell is empty and all the devils are here, William Shakespeare.

What is it?

The dark web is a part of the deep web that is intentionally hidden from search engines and public view. Access to the dark web requires the Tor browser. The Tor browser is a web browser that anonymizes your web traffic using the Tor network. It protects your privacy and anonymity.

The deep, invisible or hidden web is a part of Internet whose contents are not indexed by search engines. It includes web mail, online banking, restricted access social-media pages and profiles, paywalled services or membership websites, etc.

Is it legal?

Using Tor or visiting the Dark Web could be dangerous, but these are activities that are not illegal in themselves. Everything on the dark web is not necessary nefarious, illegal, fake or false, but a cautious approach and common sense should be exercised.

However, it is illegal to carry out illegal acts, such as accessing child abuse or child porn media, promoting terrorism, inciting to violence or hatred directed against a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, descent or national or ethnic origin or buying or selling illegal items such as drugs, cloned credit cards, hacked Coinbase, social media, eBay or Gmail accounts, weapons or stolen goods (the black market).

However, accessing contradicting and highly censored mainstream information, sharing information, protecting and fighting for privacy against surveillance, censorship, and oppression and for human rights in general, and interacting with other users are legal practices. The dark web helps people to maintain privacy and freely connect and express themselves online in countries hostile to free speech and where Internet access is criminalized.

Warning

Curiosity kills the cat. It can be quite curious and interesting to take a look at the dark web, but it is very dangerous (you may become the target of an online attack) and/or you could be doing something illegal without even knowing it.

Extreme your caution when downloading files because they may infect your devices with malware, such as viruses, Trojans, or ransomware. You should also consider that phishing and exit scams are common place in the dark web.

How to access the dark web

• Use Tails or Qubes OS. They definitely are two of the most secure operating systems out there.
• Use a good antivirus and a firewall, but you do not need a VPN to anonymize your traffic because Tor provides far more anonymity than any VPN service ever could.
• Use Tor. It is a web browser that lets users stay anonymous online and protects them from being tracked by hackers, internet service providers, and even corporations and governments. Maybe, it is a good idea to use Proxifier, too (Source: How to use Tor as a Socks5 Proxy for Almost Everything, Darknet stats).

Go to Tor Browser’s Settings, Privacy, you should set Onion Services. Prioritize .onion sites to Always and set Security Level to Safest.

• Besides, there are many more measures that you can take to protect yourself and browse anonymously, such as browse from a public Wi-Fi access point, install and use privacy-protecting extensions (HTTPS Everywhere, Privacy Badger, Ghostery, NoScript), and spoof your MAC address.
• Obviously, nothing is as important as being extremely cautious and using good old common sense while browsing the dark web. Avoid clicking on any links you don’t trust and filling in any personal information on pages, sites, and services on the dark web.
• Do not provide your personal information. Use a fake identity when signing up for services.

What can you find?

The dark web is a chaotic, messy, and constantly shifting landscape because everyone is anonymous and many websites are step up by scammers and evildoers.

1. The Hidden Wiki is one of the best places to start with. It offers links to different websites and services, many of them are illegal, on the dark web.

   Most of these links do not work in normal browsers. You need to use Tor.

   tor.taxi is your ride to the darknet. Besides, you can use dark.fail to check whether a .onion site is online and save your favorite sites in a KeePassXC database.

2. Danie and TorLinks list thousands of onion sites, too.

3. DuckDuckGo is a dark web search engine that protects your privacy.

4. Dark web search engines: Phobos, Ahmia and Torch search hidden services on the Tor network.

    

5. Besides, you can find private-oriented alternatives to many websites and services, such as ProtonMail -it is an alternative to GMail, Yahoo or Hotmail that respects your privacy with encryption-, the BBC, or even Facebook.

6. WikiLeaks specializes in the analysis and publication of large datasets of censored or otherwise restricted official materials involving war, spying and corruption.

7. Others: Uncensored Bible for DarkNet; Deep Web Radio, is the dark web’s digital radio; SecureDrop allows you to share and accept documents from anonymous sources; ComicBookLibrary and Imperial Library have a vast collection of comics and digital books, but please be aware of copyright infringement; AlphaBay is the first darknet marketplace right now (Source: Wired.com, AlphaBay is taking over the dark web-again); PornHub; The Pirate Bay has a lot of copyrighted material listed on the site, too.

   If you are purchasing illegal items on the dark web or downloading copyrighted materials, then you can get in trouble with legal authorities. That’s why I don’t even include some of their links and I’ve never bought anything in the black market.

   Most dark web commerce sites conduct transactions in Bitcoin, Monero, and other crypto currencies.

8. Security. DNM Bible is a complete guide that covers all steps that users have to take in order to buy securely from darknetmarkets; Qubes OS is one of the most secure operating systems.

Bibliography: vpnoverview, How to Stay Safe on Dark Web Marketplaces in 2022 & The 20 Best Dark Web Sites: Dark Web Links Worth Visiting. Darknet Stats, check the Tutorials section. whonix, the Docs section is short of AMAZING, “This documentation is a crash course in anonymity and security on the Internet.”