An Introduction to the Dark Web

We talked about the Going Dark debate and how this relates to my project funded by the Quebec Bar on the Dark Web. In this post, let's talk about the Dark Web. I will start with the basics - what is the Dark Web, what can we find on it, and who funds this cybercommunity.

Some commentators prefer to refer to the Dark Web as the Deep Web, but I prefer the former for it's implication as the morally-challenged part of the web.

The Dark Web is a place that can only be accessed through an encrypted browser, such as Tor (the Onion router).

The Onion Router is an Internet networking protocol designed to anonymize the data relayed across it. Using Tor's software will make it difficult, if not impossible, for any snoops to see your webmail, search history, social media posts or other online activity. They also won't be able to tell what country you're in or locate you by an IP address, which can be very useful for journalists, activists, businesspeople and more (Source: Tom's Guide).

Furthermore, Tor prevents online data collectors like Google to do their job properly because it renders data analysis impossible.

Tor is most efficient when used with websites made especially for anonymous browsing (the tor network). If you use Tor on a non-encrypted part of the web (the regular Internet), then it will not protect you completely. If you have to remain anonymous, and use a website that is not within the Tor network, then you should look for encryption services on the regular network (Internet), like SSL (Secure Socket Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security). These website's address will usually look like https:// as opposed to http://. The "s" means that it's secured. It's common with banking websites for instance. SSL and TLS encryption only encrypted the data but not the information about senders and receivers. The combinaison of the Tor browser with these website will offer a pretty good anonymity, even if it's not within the typical tor network's websites.

In this post, we are concerned with the use of encryption within the tor network (the Dark Web).

What can I find on the Dark Web?

Of course, before going any further, you'd like to know what is the buzz about the Dark Web. What can you find the Dark Web?

Once on the Tor Browser, you can type a website in your browser, just like you would on your regular browser. The website has to be part of the Tor network. You would find these addresses on the regular web (potential security flaw - most Tor users will do some researches about encryption and Tor before using it).

So, on the Dark Web, you will find every twisted things that people would want to find only on the cover of anonimity: mail order marijuana, access the infamous Silk Road (a black market where anything can be bought), hire a hitman or a theft, watch or learn about human experiment on homeless person, access the hidden Wiki (a wikipedia of all the things you should not know unless you wanted to be a criminal), and so on.

Who owns the dark web? Can't we just close it down - it doesn't seem like a very legit place overall?

And here's the twist...

"The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory sponsored the development of onion routing in the 1990s, and Tor itself was developed by Navy and independent researchers in 2002.

Today, Tor's original creators continue to support and update the protocol under the Tor Project, an independent, nonprofit organization that is partly funded by various arms of the U.S. government.

The Tor protocol is open source, meaning anyone can view the code and incorporate it into their own software. The Tor protocol and its implementation in the Tor Browser Bundle have also been extensively peer reviewed, which means that many researchers have examined them to make sure they offer the strongest possible security." (source: Tom's Guide)

This may raise legitimate questions such as why would the government fund a place like the dark web?

Well, there are some reasons other than criminal activities behind the use of encryption online :

- preserving your privacy;

- protecting your company from cyber-espionage;

- allowing individuals to discuss freely in totalitarian states :

According to the website Who is Hosting This,

Citizens of countries who censor the Internet use Tor to access blocked news or social media sites, or research sensitive information on topics like AIDs or birth control that may not be available elsewhere. Journalists, bloggers, and human rights activists use Tor to protect themselves from retaliation from governments or employers. And whistleblowers use Tor to keep safe when reporting corruption.

- using the browser to protect pictures or e-mails of your children from predators;

These reasons explain why the Tor network is funded by the Electronic Frontier Foundation or other organizations working to protect human rights.

But altogether, we must admit that the amount of people using it for beneficial reasons is far less than the amount of people who use it for illegal purposes - I have no numbers, obviously (- it's encrypted), but many commentators have argued the same way, hence the debate about why it exists in the first place.

But before we get into this debate, let's come back to an essential question : why is the US government funding the dark web? (You can hear you from here : "Obviously not because they care about citizens' privacy concerns". Of course, the Going Dark debate points in this direction.) This infographic may be of some help to think about an educated answer :

At the moment, however, there is no official response as to why the US government is funding Tor. But we know that government agencies such as the NSA are now spending a forture to crack their own creation.

The continued funding of Tor by the American government, including (indirectly) the Department of Defense, stands in stark contrast to the Guardian's revelationin October 2013 that the National Security Agency and GCHQ were attempting to destroy the network. Documents obtained by the Guardian detailed proof-of-concept attacks designed to either bring down the Tor network entirely, or to de-anomymise users. (Source: The Guardian).

Subscribe to the newsletters if you want to know more about the Dark Web - my next post will discuss recent attempts by law enforcement authorities to apply the Rule of Law in the Dark Web.

#encryption #Deepweb #DarkWeb #Internet #Tornetwork #TheOnionRouter