PC Advisor

FEATURE
a password. It has been live for nearly 20
years, so there are plenty of pages there.
Use an online bank account? The
password-protected bits are on the Deep
Web. And when you consider how many
pages just one Gmail account will create, you
understand the sheer size of the Deep Web.
This scale is why newspapers and
mainstream news outlets regularly trot
out scare stories about ‘90 percent of the
internet’ consisting of the Dark Web. They
are confusing the generally dodgy Dark
Web with the much bigger and generally
more benign Deep Web. Mixing up the act
of deliberately hiding things, with that of
keeping pages away from search engines for
reasons of security or user experience.
The Dark Internet
Confusingly, ‘Dark Internet’ is also a term
that’s sometimes used to describe further
examples of networks, databases or even
websites that cannot be reached over the
internet. In this case, either for technical
reasons, or because the properties contain
niche information that few people will want,
or in some cases because the data is private.
A basic rule of thumb is that the phrases
‘Dark Web’ or ‘Deep Web’ are typically used
by tabloid newspapers to refer to dangerous
secret online worlds, the ‘Dark Internet’ is a
boring place where scientists store raw data
for research. The Deep Web is a catch-all
term for all web pages that are not indexed
for search, the others refer to specific things.
How to access the Dark Web
Technically, this is not a difficult process.
You simply need to install and use Tor. Go to
torproject.org and download the Tor Browser
Bundle, which contains all the required
tools. Run the downloaded file, choose an
extraction location, then open the folder and
click Start Tor Browser. That’s it. The Vidalia
The phrases ‘Dark Web’ or ‘Deep Web’ are used by tabloid
newspapers to refer to dangerous secret online worlds, the
‘Dark Internet’ is where scientists store raw data for research
Control Panel will automatically handle the
randomised network setup and, when Tor
is ready, the browser will open; just close it
again to disconnect from the network.
Depending on what you intend to do
on the Dark Web, some users recommend
placing tape over your laptop’s webcam to
prevent prying eyes watching you. A tinfoil
hat is also an option.
The difficult thing is knowing where to
look. There, reader, we leave you to your own
devices and wish you good luck and safe
surfing. And a warning before you go any
further. Once you get into the Dark Web, you
will be able to access those sites to which
the tabloids refer. This means that you could
be a click away from sites selling drugs and
guns, and – frankly – even worse things.
Aggregation sites such as Reddit offer
lists of links, as do several Wikis, including
thehiddenwiki.org – a list that offers access
to some very bad places. Have a quick look
by all means, but please don’t take our
linking to it as an endorsement.
And do heed our warning: this article
is intended as a guide to what is the
Dark Web – not an endorsement or
encouragement for you to start behaving
in illegal or immoral behaviour. J
February 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features 97