Beyond The Surface
Decoding The Dark Web
The Internet, they say, is like an iceberg — much of it is hidden underneath. While for many of us, the visible part of the internet itself is complicated to deal with, there are large swathes of the web that does not easily show themselves up but thrive in grey alleys, shadowy corners and hidden nooks.
There are primarily three layers to the internet — the surface web, the deep web and the dark web. What we generally use is called the surface web where things are accessible on regular browsers. The open web, or surface web, is the “visible” surface layer. All commonly public-facing websites accessed via traditional browsers like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Firefox are contained here. Websites are usually labelled with registry operators like “.com” and “.org” and can be easily located with popular search engines.
When you surf Amazon without logging in, for example, you’ll see their product listings. But you’ll only be able to see the website as a customer, not as a seller or administrator. To be able to look “behind the scenes,” you’ll need a username and password. Once you have those, you’ll be able to get past the surface and onto the deep web.
The term “deep web” refers to the part of the internet that’s behind closed doors. Most of the deep web consists of pages and databases that are only meant for a certain group of people within an organization. It rests below the surface and accounts for approximately 90% of all websites. Many web pages are dynamically generated or do not have links from other sites. Without links from previously indexed sites, the search engines cannot find them. That is why getting links from other pages is a basic principle of search engine optimization (SEO).
While many confuse the deep web with the dark web, much of the deep portion as a whole is perfectly legal and safe. Fee-for-service sites are another major source of deep web content. Although fee-for-service sites, such as Netflix, are visible on the web, most of their content is not. Customers must pay a fee, create a user id, and set up a password to get most of the material offered by these sites. The deep web gives users access to far more information than the surface web.
Privacy, which is usually provided by encryption, is another benefit of the deep web. Encryption on the deep web allows fee for service sites to keep their content away from nonpaying Internet users while serving it to their customers.
Dark web on the other hand refers to a technology network within the internet that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations or unique customised communication protocol. Reports claim that the dark web first emerged in 2009, but its history is rooted in the 1960s Advanced Research Projects Agency Network — famously known as the ‘ ARPANET ‘, used by the US intelligence community (IC) and military during the cold war.
It was coined to designate network isolation for academic and government projects and is relatively difficult for law enforcement to crack down on because the user identity cannot be tracked on the dark web.
On the network end, the dark web is a bit more of a grey area. The use of the dark web usually means that you are attempting to engage in an activity that you could not otherwise carry out in the public eye.
It is easier to get people’s IP addresses on the surface web, but near impossible to track the ID when on the dark web because it is designed to operate through an anonymising browser called The Onion Ring or TOR where the data is encrypted like layers in an onion. Hundreds of messages are hidden in each layer. This encryption keeps the privacy of the users safe.
You can never get the whole message just by looking at a single layer or a couple of layers together; the messages are carefully encrypted in every layer and finally assembled only at the destination. Tor network browser provides users access to visit websites with the “. onion” registry operator. This browser is a service originally developed in the latter part of the 1990s by the United States Naval Research Laboratory.
So why not use it if it promises total anonymity?
Dark Web is home to all sorts of information but it has gained a bad reputation because of the prevalence of widespread illegal content such as illicit content, sale of black market drugs, sale of illegal firearms, illegally acquired users’ databases, etc. The place is as messy and chaotic as you would expect when everyone is anonymous, and a substantial minority are out to scam others. Many dark websites are set up by scammers, who constantly move around to avoid the wrath of their victims.
Even commerce sites that may have existed for a year or more can suddenly disappear if the owners decide to cash in and flee with the escrow money they’re holding on behalf of customers. From fake passports to stolen credit cards, this place lurks with criminal activity. Drugs are the most traded item on the dark web. They are sold and bought in two prominent spaces, ‘ Alpha Bay ‘ and ‘ Silk Road ‘. The Silk Road website was a Tor hidden service, which made it difficult for the authorities to shut the site down. All transactions were conducted using Bitcoin, meaning they couldn’t be traced the way credit-card transactions can be.
Alpha Bay was 10 times the size of its predecessor Silk Road which was busted in October 2013. ‘ Besa Mafia ‘, was another infamous marketplace for contract killings. Other websites that are slowly gaining ground are ‘ Evolution ‘ and ‘ Jokerstash ‘, which mostly deal with stolen credit card information.
The rise of cryptocurrencies increased the popularity of the dark web, especially for cybercriminals. That’s because digital currencies often provide a great deal of anonymity for people who buy and sell on the dark web. A recent report by a leading crypto-payment analytic firm, Chainalysis, shows that Bitcoin transactions on the dark web grew from approximately $250 million in 2012 to $872 million in 2018. The firm projected that Bitcoin transactions on the dark web will reach more than $1 billion in 2019.
Its legal status you ask?
While accessing the Dark Web is not illegal, its use to acquire illegal content and procure prohibited items is. But just visiting it might not be suitable for the majority. There’s a chance you will find websites run by criminals. Beyond selling illegal goods and services, they may seek to exploit you and steal from you. If you decide to venture to the dark web, it’s smart to be selective about the websites you access.
Ok if it is a place where criminals dwell then why not ban it?
The government is unlikely to ever fully suppress the dark web for the same reason that law enforcement has never been able to eliminate conventional black markets: there’s a lot of demand for the information and products offered on these sites, and there’s always going to be someone willing to take the risks involved in meeting that demand. Moreover, it allows the government to access confidential data without the risk of a data breach.
It is also used in other ways, like communication between whistleblowers and protecting users from attacks or surveillance to ensure privacy in communication. The dark web is also frequently used by journalists to hide their IP addresses when digging into a sensitive investigation or potential story. Finally, the popularity of the dark web with criminals makes it a perfect way for undercover police officers to communicate.
Despite its pros and cons Dark web remains a constant subject of interest for both the authorities and the delinquents. The reality of the dark web is much more complicated, requiring a nuanced approach from supervisors and law enforcement agencies to thwart activities that are considered illegal and immoral in free societies, all the while protecting the very real benefits of an anonymized network. After all Dark web is quite a complex topic to decipher.
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