Dark Web: How The Unseen Internet Is Accessed

In 2015, the founder of Silk Road received a life sentence for operating a billion-dollar black market website. This platform was notorious as the leading online marketplace for illegal drugs and other contraband. Its accessibility was limited to those familiar with the dark web, keeping it concealed from average internet users.

The Dark Web is a hidden part of the internet, likened to an iceberg where only the surface web is visible. Below it lies the deep web, accessible through specific software, and further down exists the dark web which anonymizes users' identities and locations. This encrypted network can be accessed easily by downloading darknet software like Tor, I2P, or Freenet. Tor (The Onion Routing Project), initially developed for government use in the 1990s but made public in 2004, has become the most popular tool for anonymous browsing on this layer of cyberspace.

The Tor network enhances online privacy by obscuring users' IP addresses, which are typically linked to their physical locations. When using the Tor browser, a user's connection request is routed through multiple servers before reaching its destination instead of going directly. For instance, if someone in New York wants to access a site in New Jersey, their request will take an indirect path that masks their identity and location from potential trackers.

The Tor browser routes requests through multiple relays, making it difficult to trace users' locations. With over 7,000 relays worldwide, this network relies on volunteers donating their computers. A map created by Hyperion Gray identified 6,608 dark websites in January 2018; these sites range from benign to criminal activities. For some individuals like journalists and whistleblowers, the dark web serves as a platform for anonymous communication and information sharing. However, law enforcement faces challenges tracking illegal activities due to the inherent anonymity of these platforms.