Dark web definition

The dark web is the hidden collective of internet sites only accessible by a specialized
web browser. It is used for keeping internet activity anonymous and private, which can
be helpful in both legal and illegal applications. While some use it to evade government
censorship, it has also been known to be utilized for highly illegal activity.

What is the dark web, deep web, and surface web?

The Internet is sizable with millions of web pages, databases, and servers all run 24
hours a day. But the so-called "visible" Internet (aka surface web or open web) — sites
that can be found using search engines like Google and Yahoo — is just the tip of the
iceberg.

A. The surface web or open web

The open web, or surface web, is the “visible” surface layer. If we continue to visualize
the entire web like an iceberg, the open web would be the top portion that’s above the
water. From a statistical standpoint, this collective of websites and data makes up under
5% of the total internet.
B. The deep web
The deep web rests below the surface and accounts for approximately 90% of all
websites
1. Databases: both public and privately protected file collections that are not
connected to other areas of the web, only to be searched within the database
itself.
2. Intranets: internal networks for enterprises, governments, and educational
facilities used to communicate and control aspects privately within their
organizations
The dark web
The dark web refers to sites that are not indexed and only accessible via specialized
web browsers. Significantly smaller than the tiny surface web, the dark web is
considered a part of the deep web. Using our ocean and iceberg visual, the dark web
would be the bottom tip of the submerged iceberg.
 No webpage indexing by surface web search engines. Google and other
popular search tools cannot discover or display results for pages within the dark
web.
 “Virtual traffic tunnels” via a randomized network infrastructure.
 Inaccessible by traditional browsers due to its unique registry operator. Also,
it's further hidden by various network security measures like firewalls and
encryption.
How to access the dark web
Tor (“The Onion Routing” project) 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.

Is it illegal to go on the dark web?

Simply put, no it is not illegal to access the dark web. In fact, some uses are perfectly
legal and support the value of the “dark web.” On the dark web, users can seek out
three clear benefits from its use:

 User anonymity
 Virtually untraceable services and sites
 Ability to take illegal actions for both users and providers