There are even special versions of search engines like Bing and Duck Duck Go that will return onion addresses for Tor services. Rather than conventional web addresses, Tor uses “ onion” addresses, which further obscure the content. As the message hops from one node to another, it is encrypted in a way that each relay only knows about the machine that sent the message and the machine it is being sent to. Tor provides secrecy and anonymity by passing messages through a network of connected Tor relays, which are specially configured computers. Tor downloads as a bundle of software that includes a version of Firefox configured specifically to use Tor. Of these, the most popular is Tor (originally called The Onion Router), partly because it is one of the easiest software packages to use.

There are a number of ways to access the dark web, including the use of Tor, Freenet and I2P. Whistle blowers have used the dark web to communicate with journalists, but more frequently, it has been used by paedophile groups, terrorists and criminals to keep their dealings secret.

The dark net vendor claimed they could sell the Medicare patient details of any Australian.īecause of the the dark web’s almost total anonymity, it has been the place of choice for groups wanting to stay hidden online from governments and law enforcement agencies. More recently, a journalist was able to purchase his Medicare details on a Tor website. A site was reportedly created to crowdfund the assassination of US President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence, but most of these platforms are likely to be scams. The dark web has been host to crowdfunded “assassination markets”, where users can pay towards having someone assassinated. Special markets also operate within the dark web called “darknet markets”, which mainly sell illegal products like drugs and firearms, paid for in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. However, some sites are effectively “hidden”, in that they have not been indexed by a search engine and can only be accessed if you know the address of the site. Once inside, web sites and other services can be accessed through a browser in much the same way as the normal web. The “dark web” is a part of the world wide web that requires special software to access.

Tor search engine 2022