In our previous article we discussed about DNS (Domain Name system).
We came to know about the different servers that maintained the database of all the Domain names with their corresponding IP Addresses, making it easier to approach the websites. We further came across a whole another set of domains - .onion. These websites are known as "The Deep Net Websites". People often misinterpret Deep Web with the Dark Web. But these two are two different Entities.
Well now that I have struggled my way through the Introduction part, let's dig into the Mystic Realms of The Deep Web.
A Bit of a History:
Tor was the basic foundation of the Deep Web. It was developed somewhere near 2002 by the US Naval Research Laboratory. It followed The Onion Routing protocol which was created earlier in the mid 1990's. Everything was going great till 2009 until Satoshi Nakamoto created the Bitcoins .
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| Satoshi Nakatomo |
Bitcoins are a type of online currency having a worth of 2456.00 US Dollars (per unit bitcoin). Now people had a way to pay for certain services without being traced. Then in 2011, came the 'Amazon of Crime' - Silk Road (In reference to the historically important international trade route between China and Mediterranean ). Here people could buy all illegal stuff like Drugs, Weapons, Human organs and the list of creepiness and insanity goes on and on.
All in one place - http :// silkroad6ownowfk.onion (Don't bother going through this URL , It's closed now)
Why .onion ???
Well, as an Onion has many layers, which you have to peel off to get to the core of it... To access the deep web, you have to go through a series of layers first.
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| The Onion Routing Protocol |
Variety of Browsers:
We cannot access these Deep Websites using our regular browser. We need a highly secure browser that would allow us to surf Anonymously. There are a variety of web browsers but Tor and I2P are used widely. First let us take a look at Tor Browsing.
Tor:
Tor is a browser that was created by the Tor Browsing organization in 2000. It lets us go full anon and takes us to the great depths of Deep and Dark Web.
Basically, our message goes through a series of Routers(as it normally does in the Standard Protocols). The routers mask the IP Address of the sender with Multiple Layers. This means that the IP Address of the sender is changed on every hop ,making it almost impossible to track us . Now I know some of you might think of this as a very obvious thing- "Of coarse, the IP Address of the packet that carries message through a Network would change with every hop...then what's the big idea here??? "
The changed IP Address would show large variations. On Tracing the Packet that carries the message, we will find that once the source IP Address of the packet is from Singapore, on next hop Russia ,later United States then China and so on...
This way it is almost impossible to find the source address of the message.
It is not all the way bad though. It can surf regular surface websites too.
I2P:
The Invisible Internet Project. It is similar to the Tor but it is primarily used for messaging purpose. It can also surf the dark web. Dark web are the part of internet that has series of websites specialized for illegit activities.
The Levels of Deepness:
The Deep web is only one of the 5 levels of internet.
Level 1:
The top most layer with no as such "protection" is comprised of the local Social Networking Websites, the Search Engines etc.
" Yeah! You're at level 1 dude!!! "
Level 2:
The Bergie Web. The websites that are a little hard to find but can be spotted by a search engine.
For instance: utorrent, piratebay, all pop ups etc.
Level 3:
The Deep Web. The websites in this region cannot be listed under any normal search engine. There is however a search engine known as Duckduckgo .
Level 4:
The Dark Web. The place for all nasty illegit stuffs. Hier a hitman, buy dolls with real human organs, pedophilic websites, torture dungeons and other god forsaken things.
Level 5:
The Marianas Web. It is the Deepest place in the whole internet. Here lies the deepest secrets of the world such as : the coordinates of Atlantis, the holy grail and also a female AI, that controls the whole internet. Which is basically a concept of Quantum Computers(which are not invented yet)...
Now some of you might be curious and would want to visit the Deep/Dark Web. Don't let your curiosity kill you... One has to be very careful while surfing in the deep web. There are however many tutorials to visit the Deep web. I'll be coming up with a secure one soon. Till then keep Exploring...
