The Internet is a collection of interconnected networks. Did you know that there are deeper layers in the internet that we have never seen/heard of?
Surface Web
We can access the Surface Web using any browser. This is the part of the internet that we use the most in our daily lives, for example YouTube, Facebook, eBay, YouTube.
Deep Web
Deep web are sites that cannot be accessed by a browser. ( Ex: Bank database, Military information. ) We can not access these from a browser because these websites are not index based websites. But with special tools like Tor browser, Grams search engine, we have the ability to access a few of these web sites.
Dark Web
There is the largest drug business in the world inside this Dirk web called silk road and it sells a lot of drugs inside. No one can touch this because no one knows who owns it, but in 2015 the FBI stopped it after a two-year operation, but less than a week later it started working again on silk road 2.0. It has been reduced 65% of dark web traffic. It shows that many people use the dark web to buy drugs. Somehow it’s started again as silk road 2.1 and no one has been able to stop it.
There is a lot of illegal things going in the dark web, such as creating fake documents, committing murders, programs like the red room that kills people inhumanely, and the illegal arms trade.
TOR Project
In the mid-1990s, the United States Navy laid the groundwork for a privacy protection system called Onion routing to protect its intellectual property secrets on the Internet.
In 1997, it was upgraded by the United States Special Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Several computer programmers who later developed software called Tor (The Onion Router) and released an alpha version and called it the Tor Project. The logo was also an onion, which means that the center is covered from the outside with different layers of onions and the security is tightened. The Tor project is now operating as a non-profit organization.
Is Tor Browser Illegal?
Tor Browser is not illegal to use. If you intend to access websites such as Facebook under a more secure environment as a someone who cares more about privacy, then the Tor browser is definitely a good option. This only gives you the opportunity to explore the internet anonymously. Sadly about 95% of people use this Tor browser to committing illegal acts.
What is a Tor Relay?
Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and other agencies and websites will be able to identify you by IP address when you access the Internet. Even if you use a VPN, the service provider still be able to track your whereabouts.
When you access the Internet through the TOR software, it encrypts your Internet access and randomly sends it to various servers on the Tor network. Because of this, your identity will be hidden as you will not be able to find out where you came from and who you are on that targeted website.
The secure websites on this network use the ICANN and the .onion domain name classified as ‘special needs’ and cannot be accessed by a normal browser.
What is a Tor Bridge?
Bridges are types of relays and the difference is that they are not accessible in the normal way like normal relays.
Bridges are used for special needs. These bridges can be used if a government is blocking the Tor network to unnecessarily restrict what people in their country are doing online.
You can get the required Pluggable Transport through this link. https://bridges.torproject.org
Overview
As mentioned earlier, Tor Browser is a great way to add extra security to your online presence. By using the Tor Browser to browse web pages on the Internet, you can assert your right to privacy on the Internet. And with the proliferation of intelligence / surveillance organizations around the world, it is important that you protect yourself on the Internet for as long as possible. Fortunately, if you use this Tor Browser, you have already taken the first steps in enforcing your legal right to privacy.
But since the Deep web runs on Onion Routing, there are no rules and regulations or content policies to control the information in it. The Dark Web is home to all sorts of information, but it has gained a bad reputation for spreading a wide range of illegal content, such as pornography, selling black market drugs, selling illegal weapons, and databases of illegally acquired users.
According to a 2004 survey conducted by the University of Portsmouth in England, the highest number of searches conducted on the Tor network is on child abuse. Money laundering also takes place through Bitcoin, an independent service that has no affiliation with any bank. There are reports of racketeers using counterfeit currency to buy sports currency units such as ‘gold coins’ from online computer games such as World of Warcraft, Cash of Clans, etc., and then convert them into net currency.
Therefore, if you are using Dark Web, you need to use PC with a good firewall and use a Secure VPN or Proxy. If you have been attacked or threatened on the Dark Web or in any other way on the Internet, report it to the following agencies.
>> SL CERT – https://www.cert.gov.lk/report_incident.php
>> First.org – https://www.first.org/
