I finally got my tutorial on the dark web. So, what did I learn? First of all, I discovered that from the entirety of the internet, only about 4-5% is visible to us—websites, social media, and such. Surprisingly, around 95% is hidden behind passwords—bank accounts, databases, academic work, and more. And then there's about 1% known as the dark web.
The first 5% is indexed by Google and other search engines, so you can easily find it. The remaining 95% requires passwords to access. The dark web isn't indexed at all and can only be accessed with specialized tools. In my introduction, the person guiding me first created a virtual machine. When exploring the dark web, you might get explored yourself. To avoid exposing my computer to this world, we used a virtual machine that could be deleted afterward if attacked.
We then used a Tor browser, part of the Onion Network. The kind of things we saw were astonishing: lots of drugs and what they call men's health products like Viagra. There was also an abundance of fake currency—euros, sterling, dollars—sold at about a fifth of their face value. Guns were plentiful too.
Credit cards were another major item for sale. They sell white cards with numbers written on them; for instance, you could buy ten cards each containing between $5,000 to $20,000. You use them until they're caught and blocked. These criminals collect millions of numbers and sell them in small batches to minimize their risk.
Fake IDs and passports were also common. When I asked about hiring someone for nefarious activities like framing or even killing someone, they showed me places where you could pay for such services. It's incredibly cheap because the dark web reduces the risk significantly.
Despite these horrors, my host mentioned some positive aspects of the dark web: whistleblowers can communicate with journalists without being identified, and people in oppressive countries can speak their minds safely.
I visited hacker websites as well. They don't have titles like mainstream sites but are numerous nonetheless. Hackers boast about their exploits—breaking into places, defaming entities, collecting ransoms—and sell lists of passwords among other things.
Fascinating yet deeply unsettling. Before my tutorial, I asked my host if they could find hackers willing to talk to me anonymously about their work and motivations. Although they tried hard and received many service offers, no one agreed to speak with me.
But I'm persistent. One day soon, I hope to talk to some hackers from the dark web and share those insights with you. For now, wishing us all more luck than I thought we'd need given what I've learned about the dark web.
