To access the vast majority of the dark web, you’ll need Tor. The Ashley Madison data dump, for instance, was posted to a site only accessible to Tor users. The dark web and Tor are often used by journalists and whistleblowers to exchange sensitive information, including Edward Snowden himself. Users’ identities are safe from the prying eyes of governments and corporations. No one knows who anyone else is in the real world, so long as they take the necessary precautions. It could be a blog, forum, chat room, or private gaming server.

More than that, though, the dark web contains content and data that can be accessed with anonymity. The darkest corners are used to hire hitmen, engage in human trafficking, and exchange child pornography. The type of site most commonly associated with the dark web are marketplaces where illicit goods such as narcotics, firearms, and stolen credit card numbers are bought and sold. Websites and data on the dark web do typically require a special tool to access. The dark web, or dark net, is a small part of the deep web that is kept hidden on purpose. Although not everything on the dark net is illegal, it’s where you’ll find many of the internet’s black markets, hacker forums, malware vendors, and other illicit activity. Both the owners and users of the dark web are anonymous. The dark web is made up of purposefully hidden websites and services. The dark net, or dark web, constitutes a small fraction of the deep web. The links that Google and other search engines return when you type in a query is known as the “surface web,” while all the other, non-searchable content is referred to as the “deep web” or “invisible web”. By some estimates, the web contains 500 times more content than what Google returns in search results. Google only indexes a tiny fraction of the internet.

Tor websites 2017