BlackCat’s McLaren Health Care Data Breach Exposes 22 Million Patients
Understanding the Dark Web vs Deep Web
This keeps government bodies, advertisers and hackers from reading the messages you send and websites you visit while online. Hackers and others, then, won’t be able to decipher your password when you log into your online bank account. Instead, the deep web describes all web pages hidden from the search engines we use every day. Website owners hide their sites to protect information not meant for public viewing, like email and banking accounts, private social media pages, and electronic health records.
A database can be a public or private file collection that’s not connected to any other part of the internet. It can be anything from academic information, medical records, legal documents, research documents, government resources, or multilingual databases. The dark web is a part of the deep web, only that it’s much deeper and often completely inaccessible to the average internet surfer. You can only access it if you have special software or authorization and know exactly where to look.
- A key characteristic of the deep web is that it requires specific authorization to access its content.
- Identity theft monitoring is critical if you want to keep your private information from being misused.
- 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.
- The deep web is actually larger than the online area you commonly interact with, known as the “surface web”.
- This week, around 643k data records were announced as lost in the cyber wars.
In March of 2000, Freenet was released to allow a censorship-resistant way to use the Web. It also opened the way for sharing illegal pornographic material and pirated data. One of the key tools used on the Dark Web today was first released in 2002 – Tor, The Onion Router. Users gain greater anonymity online when using Tor because it encrypts Internet traffic and passes through several nodes.
The Silk Road, a dark marketplace taken down in 2013, was one of the most popular dark websites. It’s one of the first examples of how easy it was for criminals to buy drugs, forged documents, and weapons on the internet. Intranets are small private networks within companies, educational institutions, or government agencies used for communications and day-to-day business.
The internet is often viewed as a vast, unbounded network of information and services. However, not all of it is easily accessible or known to the average user. This leads to the distinction between the dark web and the deep web, two concepts that are frequently confused.
What is the Deep Web?
This implies that your typical browsing practices cannot smoothly access the content lying in the Elusive Web. Ultimately, both Deep Internet and Dark Internet represent the elusive corridors of the online sphere, serving different causes. The Deep Internet is an enormous warehouse bustling with non catalogued data, whereas the Dark Internet is a smaller, calculatedly hidden, & typically anonymous realm of the digital world. Comprehending their disparities is vital for secure surfing through the vast digital wilderness. Think of the internet as an unbounded digital cosmos; our daily interaction only grazes the surface. With all our technology and connectedness comes a price, vulnerability.
A compromised entry node in Tor’s network can allow hackers to track your IP address. Law enforcement agencies monitor the dark web for malicious activity. They frequently attempt to bring down organizations conducting business on the dark web. You may also find plenty of stolen scientific research, blogs, and pirated software on the Dark Web. As mentioned, some Dark Web content can be unsettling, which is the biggest difference between websites on the Dark Web and Surface Web.
Google, social media, apps, web pages, videos, music, images – what most people know as the internet or World Wide Web is the surface layer. Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Microsoft Edge are all unable to access websites on the dark web. Dark web sites with the upper-level domain .onion can only be accessed by the Tor Browser or other browsers using a Tor interface, such as the Brave browser. There are other browsers that are able to access these pages, but the Tor Browser is the most common by far. In the early days, the world wide web was the only way to access information and communicate with others online.
The deep web refers to parts of the internet that are not indexed by traditional search engines like Google or Bing. This includes:
- Private databases
- Medical records
- Legal documents
- Subscription content
- Intranet systems
While the deep web contains a wealth of information, it is primarily characterized by legal and legitimate content. It is estimated that the deep web is significantly larger than the surface web, the part of the internet that is accessible and searchable by standard web browsers.
What is the Dark Web?
In contrast, the dark web is a small portion of the deep web that has been intentionally hidden and is inaccessible through standard web browsers. It requires specialized software, such as Tor, to access it. Key features of the dark web include:
- Anonymity: Users and website operators can remain anonymous.
- Illicit activities: Markets for illegal goods and services, such as drugs and weapons, are prevalent.
- Freedom of expression: It can serve as a refuge for political activists and whistleblowers.
Key Differences Between Dark Web and Deep Web
To clarify the distinctions, consider the following points:
| Feature | Deep Web | Dark Web |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | Requires credentials or subscriptions | Requires specialized software |
| Content Type | Legitimate and legal information | Content often related to illegal activities |
| Search Engine Indexing | Not indexed by search engines | Not indexed and hidden |
| Users | General public, businesses, researchers | Individuals seeking anonymity, criminals |
FAQs About Dark Web vs Deep Web
1. Is the dark web illegal?
While the dark web hosts illegal activities, not all of it is illegal. There are legitimate uses, such as secure communication for activists.
2. How do I access the deep web?
You can access the deep web by using necessary logins and subscriptions to access databases and private information.
3. Can I get in trouble for visiting the dark web?
Visiting the dark web itself is not illegal, but engaging in illegal activities there can lead to legal consequences.
4. How large is the deep web compared to the surface web?
The deep web is estimated to be hundreds of times larger than the surface web, comprising a vast amount of unindexed information.
Conclusion
In summary, understanding the difference between the dark web and the deep web is crucial for navigating the internet safely and effectively. The deep web offers a variety of significant legal resources, while the dark web presents a complex landscape of anonymity and potential risk. Knowledge about these divisions empowers users to make informed choices about their online activities.
