DARK WEB HORRORS
What is the dark web? If you listened to my episode about it then you most likely know it as a lawless underworld where anything goes. That is indeed what the dark web is mostly synonymous for. A hub for the selling of illicit substances and a haven for those engaging in illegal activity.
The 'Dark Web' uses complex systems that anonymise a user's true IP address, making it very difficult to work out which websites a device has visited. It is generally accessed using dedicated software, the best known is called Tor (The Onion Router). Tor makes users anonymous through layers of encryption, hence the name.
On the dark web, anonymous users congregate to do business and help one another. Sites like the silk road provided an online black market to purchase and sell anything. These black markets connect people around the world and provide the opportunity to make a fortune if your product is of quality. All payments are done via encrypted and untraceable digital currencies like Bitcoin and Monero and all kinds of transactions are possible. You can find yourself purchasing a range of items from stolen credit card details, fake identification documents, weapons and more. There are even sites that offer murder for hire, though some sites can be police set ups. Many murder for hire sites are scams that pocket the money of those desperate to set up a hit. A site like this is obviously very lucrative however it is not definitively known how many, if any are genuine.
Due to the anonymity of the dark web, a good review goes a long way. If a person is buying an illegal item from a new vendor, they could likely run the risk of communicating with undercover law enforcement who regularly run sting operations on these sites. Ordering from a vendor like this could lead to a user’s general location being revealed upon placing an order. This is how many people have gotten arrested, usually being confronted by authorities in the middle of collecting their order. These risks in turn have produced a landscape in which reputation is everything. Only those who have been vetted and vouched for by others earn some level of trust as they have proven themselves to be legit. Newbie sellers who can’t be connected to anyone are usually observed with an air of suspicion until proven otherwise. Due to the almost non exist level of risk involved with selling and buying on black market sites, they are understandably very popular and lucrative. When one site is shut down by law enforcement another one sets up shop. This will surely be a never ending cat and mouse game as like in the real world, there is always a demand and someone ready to fill the vacuum.
The dark web can only be entered through specific software like TOR, there is a clear emphasis on privacy and anonymity. That’s not as important on the clear net because everyone can access it. The clear/open web is the publicly visible part of the internet that most of us use each day, through access via search engines such as Google. It requires no real effort to get on as there are no safeguards required to enter. This is very different with the dark web because it holds a lot of data that is not available on the clear net. This includes unlawful material, criminal guides and questionable discussions ranging from murder to paraphilias, all allowed on this side of the internet.
This leads to our next point of discussion about the dark web.
Its users.
There is a one dimensional view on the kinds of people that use the dark web. Constructed by the government and mainstream media to bastardise and tarnish its importance
I won’t go into it in this post but during the episode I recorded about dark web horrors over a year ago, I spoke about some of the most disturbing and depraved things distributed through a tight knit group of like minded individuals. The nasty side. The anonymity is attractive to the likes of paedophiles which have been caught numerous times exchanging and uploading CP in a slew of sting operations.
The secrecy of the dark web is also a valuable asset to spies, whom it was originally created for. TOR was created by the US government to allow spies to communicate and exchange information with complete anonymity. The rise in technology and the internet also bore fruit to a new kind of surveillance on everyday people. It became possible to track users through their online activity and even finding out personal details about oneself from data. This was not good for government secret service agencies. TOR was a result of the need for equally technically capable communication paired with anonymity.
TOR browser was released to the public in the 90s to ensure there would be a healthy amount of traffic. In turn, messages between spies and government agents would be harder to detect with all the buzz of other anonymous users browsing the dark web.
Although many news reports and documentaries focus on the criminal aspect of the dark web this is not all there is to it. Many people use the space for anonymity because it provides them a right to free speech and access to information suppressed by their governments.
Citizens in China are not free to surf the net like those of us in slightly better off countries (in terms of basic human rights). They are blocked by the great firewall of China, which acts as an intranet that is carefully sanitised and moderated. The firewall is mainly used by the Chinese government to block any information they deem unsuitable, for their citizens. No information from the outside world goes past the intranet without careful examination. Chinese citizens are also blocked from using the normal internet making them unable to communicate with anyone outside of China. This puts the general public in an artificial bubble as they are not aware of certain current events. They are regularly presented with altered stories so the government can avoid public outrage and keep people subdued.
Citizens using only the intranet have no true scope of what is happening in the world as they are only privy to information the Chinese government chooses to present to them.
That being said, many people in China are aware that they are heavily censored and forgo this using methods such as VPNs and TOR. Dissidents, activists and journalists alike are able to share and receive important information that could be the difference between life or death for those in countries with little to no human rights.
TOR is a tool for ensuring privacy. As censorship grows across the globe, online activity of activists, dissidents and even everyday people are closely monitored. Social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are routinely used to share news around the world. This includes government critique and raising awareness of issues not covered in the news cycle.
The Department of Homeland Security has been reported to regularly collect information on people attending protests all from checking social media. Agents sift through Facebook events, twitter hashtags and Instagram feeds that have been set up to promote protests. Paired with facial recognition, agencies are able to cross reference footage from a protest with pictures on social media to identify a person’s account online and establish their identity. Facial recognition software is quite proficient in identifying people from analysing their facial features but it has caused a lot of backlash due to its continuous abuse.
Social media platforms collusion with government and law enforcement make them anything but neutral when it comes to issues concerning user privacy and data protection. There is no surprise then that TOR acts as a safer alternative. Journalists in countries like Afghanistan can safely communicate with the knowledge that their messages are encrypted, making messages untraceable and preserving the anonymity of those communicating. TOR masks IP addresses which helps those living under harsh regimes. Governments in China, Sudan and even Nigeria have blocked citizens from freely browsing the internet, though with China it is more extreme. Governments abuse their power in this way, cutting people off from important information and news to halt coordinated revolts and maintain a chosen narrative.
This is not only a problem in countries with non-existent human rights. The right to free speech and anonymity is an ongoing debate the west has been embroiled in.
The existence of TOR is more important than it has ever been. There is a need for information and discourse that can no longer be found on the regular Internet. If it is found then you can be sure that depending on what you discuss on social media you will be flagged. Major news outlets now have dark web information portals that allow whistle-blowers to communicate privately.
People use the dark web for hidden knowledge. Access to many books are restricted in some regions, this can be for a number of reasons. However, this doesn't negate the right an individual has to access that text. The dark web offers sites to read and download the most classic, controversial or critically acclaimed literature. There are also swathes of people that are restricted from using the clear net already. Which leaves them only one option.
This post may not have gone in the direction many expected it to. We are all used to the media and authorities marking the TOR as tainted. Most articles and information about TOR is highly dramatized and used as a means of fear mongering. Why? Your government doesn't want you knowing how much vital information you can access this way. There is a wealth of information available to everyone and it doesn't matter where in the world you are and who you are.
Have a listen to the episode below in which we covered some of the more disturbing parts of the dark web.
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