FACTS & MYTHS ABOUT DARK WEB -- AN INFOGRAPHIC
We here at The Happy Drone are intrigued by the concept of the Deep Web (or Deepnet or the Invisible Web), a Web largely obscured from public view. The Deep Web, generally, is the part of the Web that is not visible to search engines; this may include dynamically generated web pages (that don’t exist until a query is made, for example), restricted access sites (where a password is required) or contextual pages, that vary their content depending on a range of factors (such as the IP ranges of users.)
But the Deep Web is perhaps best known for its markets, its deep black markets in ideas and goods. Using the Tor browser, one can access directories such as the Hidden Wiki, where users can obtain paid assassins, “cheese pizza” (figure it out), or drugs, lots of drugs. Many of these sites are real (just look at reviews of drugs obtained via Silk Road, the Ebay of the underground drug trade), while others are clearly fake (the hit squads for hire are most likely the product of some feverish adolescent imagination.) And there is law enforcement, and lots of it, as you might imagine. A good round-up of some of these sites can be found here. And while we disclaim any responsibility for what you might find out there, we have included an instructional video at the bottom of this post for those of you who want to see this for yourselves.
But there are those that would have you believe that the Deep Web goes even deeper than the shady (but still relatively mundane) world of illicit drugs and imagery. Check out the provocative image below, composed no doubt by yet another imaginative teenager. It suggests (in wildly florid and fantastic language) that there are several levels below the sites accesible via Tor, sites encrypted by quantum computers, sites hiding super-intelligent AI, plans for anti-gravity engines, the real assassination networks, and everything else the most mad tin-foil hatter might imagine. If nothing else, it is a compelling myth, and good science fiction. And like all good stories, there is probably a kernel of truth in there somewhere.
Welcome to the future
We here at The Happy Drone are intrigued by the concept of the Deep Web (or Deepnet or the Invisible Web), a Web largely obscured from public view. The Deep Web, generally, is the part of the Web that is not visible to search engines; this may include dynamically generated web pages (that don’t exist until a query is made, for example), restricted access sites (where a password is required) or contextual pages, that vary their content depending on a range of factors (such as the IP ranges of users.)
But the Deep Web is perhaps best known for its markets, its deep black markets in ideas and goods. Using the Tor browser, one can access directories such as the Hidden Wiki, where users can obtain paid assassins, “cheese pizza” (figure it out), or drugs, lots of drugs. Many of these sites are real (just look at reviews of drugs obtained via Silk Road, the Ebay of the underground drug trade), while others are clearly fake (the hit squads for hire are most likely the product of some feverish adolescent imagination.) And there is law enforcement, and lots of it, as you might imagine. A good round-up of some of these sites can be found here. And while we disclaim any responsibility for what you might find out there, we have included an instructional video at the bottom of this post for those of you who want to see this for yourselves.
But there are those that would have you believe that the Deep Web goes even deeper than the shady (but still relatively mundane) world of illicit drugs and imagery. Check out the provocative image below, composed no doubt by yet another imaginative teenager. It suggests (in wildly florid and fantastic language) that there are several levels below the sites accesible via Tor, sites encrypted by quantum computers, sites hiding super-intelligent AI, plans for anti-gravity engines, the real assassination networks, and everything else the most mad tin-foil hatter might imagine. If nothing else, it is a compelling myth, and good science fiction. And like all good stories, there is probably a kernel of truth in there somewhere.
Welcome to the future
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