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Deep web is a term you might have heard but not really understood. It often gets mixed up with “dark web”, and that can sound scary. Some people even throw around phrases like the “intellectual dark web,” which only adds to the confusion.
So, what’s the difference between the deep web and the dark web? What can you use each of them for? How do you get to them? And are they safe?
This short guide on deep web vs dark web will walk you through the basics.
What Is the Deep Web?
The deep web is online information that is not indexed by standard searching engines and is not available to public.
Most search engines like Google or Bing won’t return deep web content to you after a search. Their web crawlers don’t ‘see’ these pages.
In order to access deep web pages, you need to either know their exact address (link) or to click on another link once you get in the deep side of the web.
The deep web can also include significant parts of the legitimate, mainstream web – like Netflix or Amazon pages, simply because they are personalized for users and not all URLs are meant to be indexed.
The deep web contains stuff like password-protected sites, private databases – like healthcare files, pages behind forms, etc.
What Is the Dark Web?
The dark web is a portion of the deep web – it is inaccessible unless you know exactly where to go. What makes it different from other deep web resources is its focus on illegal activities and services.
Dark web can be pretty gruesome. Some people call it the place where humanity’s darkest side surfaces.
A common way to access dark web sites is to install Tor browser. If you want to go on the dark web anonymously, you’ll need additional configuring. For more details, read this how to get on the dark web article.
What Can You Find on the Dark Web?
On the dark web, you can expect to find any and all of the following:
- Marketplace for various drugs, from mild recreational and borderline legal ones (like weed) to the hard stuff;
- Marketplace for various fire weapons and ammunitions, obviously unregistered;
- Malicious software, from ransomware kits to full exploit toolkits.
- Software needed for deeper browsing (like Onion Browser) and listing directories (lists of other deep web / dark web websites and their links, so you can access them);
- A few rare books, scanned (yay for scholars everywhere, right?);
- Lots of blueprints for 3D printing stuff, from legal things to illegal things;
- Some building plans boasting to offer undetected access (via secret tunnels) to important buildings;
- Wikileaks documents;
- A so-called Hidden wiki portal, claiming to be ‘The Original Wikipedia’ plus its mirrors;
- Files claiming to contain nude photos of various celebrities (all behind a Bitcoin wall and probably fake, of course);
- Websites with videos depicting abuse towards children, animals, war prisoners etc.
- Child pornography content;
- Racist content and content promoting violence against various minorities (like Ku Klux Klan propaganda or videos of actual hate crime being perpetrated);
- Recipes on how to cook human meat and video footage;
- Marketplace for hiring hitmen (though for the most part these services are reported to be yet more Bitcoin scams – still, some of them are for real);
- Rumors of so-called ‘red rooms’, live video footage of torture and murder – they require a Bitcoin fee to enter but they are also scams, just an urban legend.
As you can notice if you read the list, many of the things for sale on the dark web are shams, designed to get your bitcoins without making good on the promise. Of course, if someone is actually looking to buy access to such things, they don’t earn a lot of sympathy as victims of the scam.
The main marketplace for all these things is the so-called Silk Road hub. Authorities have managed to take it down and arrest its owner, then the marketplace was rebuilt by one of his lieutenants, who was recently arrested as well.
What’s the Difference Between Deep Web and Dark Web?
Some people use the two terms interchangeably as if they are more or less the same thing. This is very inaccurate, as the deep web refers to non-indexed pages, while the dark web refers to pages which are both non-indexed and involved in illegal niches. Some key differences between deep and dark web are:
- The deep web might be made of up of non-indexed pages simply because search engines fail to see them, are not deemed relevant enough to be indexed, or are private information that should remain protected. In contrast, the dark web remains hidden because it’s a hub for shady business.
- The deep web is ethically neutral, it can be used for good or for bad. The dark web is mostly moral-lacking.
- Not all deep web is dark web, but all dark web is a part of deep web.
Surface Web and Shadow Web
Another concept you should be familiar with from now on is the surface web: it refers to all the websites normally accessible from search engines, the so-called vanilla parts of the internet. You can also see it pictured in the graph above.
Finally, the last concept you should know about is the shadow web. This is allegedly a layer of internet even deeper than the dark web, the well-known hub for criminal activity. Rumors say that this shadow web is a place where even darker, more serious criminal activity takes place.
Still, according to investigations by the world’s best cybersecurity researchers and hackers, this shadow web is just a rumor.
If you go browsing the deep or dark web, you may find plenty of advertisements which claim to offer up the gateway to this hidden corner of the web, in exchange for bitcoins. It’s a well-known scam, so be careful what you click if you go looking for it.
Sadly, this only contributes to the defamation of cryptocurrencies, which in themselves are not a bad thing for the economy and society.
However, since the shadow web concept is online and ardently discussed on some Reddit groups and other forums (which sound more like conspiracy theories authored by people who don’t understand much about how the internet actually works), this doesn’t mean it can’t become real at some point in the future. Still, even if it were real or will be real, paying for access is not the way to go.
Also, if it would indeed be a hub for illicit activity even more gruesome than the dark web, I don’t know why would you want to go there, anyway, unless you’re part of a special team aiming to take them down.
Is It Illegal to Access the Deep Web or the Dark Web?
In short, no, dark web browsing or surfing deep web sites is not illegal. Neither is using a high-privacy like Tor.
In fact, part of the deep web might include your old blog from 10 years ago which search engines fail to index because it’s very old and devoid of content. Seems pretty harmless, right?
What is illegal is not just to access and browse the overlay networks called the deep web or dark web, but to look into illegal services sold on these networks. Or to attempt to hack things without permission. Like trying to gain access to sensitive information gated on the deep web.
Note that accessing the dark web without plenty of cybersecurity precautions can be dangerous for a layman. It can expose you to various dangers, which I’ll elaborate on below. If you absolutely must satisfy your curiosity on this, I will follow up with a guide on how to access the deep/dark web soon.
What Is the Intellectual Dark Web?
How about the intellectual dark web?
You’ve seen the concept floating around, maybe, so what’s the deal with this one?
Well, the funny fact about this is that the so-called intellectual dark web doesn’t have anything in common with cybersecurity issues or non-indexed pages. Nothing in common with the actual dark web, or deep web.
It consists of a bunch of conservative intellectuals, who traditionally were the only ones allowed to speak in public, aka they were the most visible on traditional information dissemination hubs. Mostly they are the WASP elite middle-aged or older, which weighed in as experts on television shows, published editorials in the biggest newspapers or taught at the biggest universities.
Since the alternative orientations have started getting their voices heard more, about a decade ago, these ‘classic’ intellectuals (many with alt-right orientations) are complaining that they are censored. They claim the media is now oriented towards leftist, progressive voices which are all about minorities, political correctness, and decolonization. Hence, they claim to have been relocated to an intellectual dark web, because no one hears their opinions anymore.
Funnily enough, they still own those traditional big channels of communication and there are still plenty of people following the same orientation as them. They just don’t like the fact that other opinions can also be heard nowadays.
I won’t elaborate on the specifics of social science currents and ideological sides here since it’s not the time and place. But you can read more about it, if you want, in this well put Vox editorial.
What Are the Main Dangers of the Dark Web?
Returning to cybersecurity issues, I need to stress that the dark web is a dangerous place, especially if you’re a non-technical person just looking to satisfy a curiosity. Don’t go snooping around there, or at least not without preparing.
One of the most often transactioned goods on the dark web marketplaces is your data. There are tons and tons of gigabytes of leaked credentials and personal information for sale for hackers. That’s where hackers get their data for credential stuffing attacks, identity theft, and other shady business.
In an experiment I wouldn’t care to replicate, Cnet journalists wanted to find out exactly what the dark web knew about them. The answer: too much.
How to Stay Safe from the Dark Web Dangers
First of all, don’t go there.
Second of all, guard your data well. Be careful what data permissions you give. Don’t just click ‘yes’ on every pop-up just to get to a website. Follow the steps in our password security guide. Don’t use funny passwords which are easy to crack.
Sooner or later, some of your data will spill over to collections available for sale on the dark web. What you can do to protect yourself is to make sure that data is not accurate anymore, not detailed enough to cause harm, and that you have multi-factor authentication enabled everywhere you can use it. Having reliable anti-malware protection active is also very important.
- Next-gen Antivirus & Firewall which stops known threats;
- DNS traffic filter which stops unknown threats;
- Automatic patches for your software and apps with no interruptions;
- Privileged Access Management and Application Control, all in one unified dashboard
If you really need to go to the dark side to check it out, take precautions. Use an encrypted privacy browser (like Tor), don’t share any real info about yourself there, don’t buy anything and don’t talk to anyone. Don’t install any software you come across while there.
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