What is ‘Dark Web’?
We
often hear about the term ‘Dark Web’ being linked to terrorist plots, drugs and
ammunition deals or child pornography. However, beyond this it’s actually
difficult to fully decipher what goes in the Dark Web.
The
Dark Web is a part of the existing internet that we use. It requires special
software to access, which only hackers usually have. Once inside, web sites and
other services can be accessed through a browser in much the same way as a
usual internet website. It refers to a collection of particular websites that
are publicly available but do not reveal the IP addresses of their servers they
run on, making it extremely difficult to know who the brains behind these
websites are. Users also cannot find these websites using regular search
engines. A classic example of a huge forest where no one knows what is hiding
in which corner. Activities are going on, but you have to find it yourself. And
if you are a regular, you would know where you need to go.
Because
of the Dark Web’s anonymity, it’s been the playground for groups wanting to
stay hidden online from governments and law enforcement agencies. Usually
whistleblowers use the Dark Web to communicate with journos to supply highly
sensitive information. But more frequently, the Dark Web has been used by pedophile
groups, terrorists and criminals to keep their dealings secret.
These
websites hide their identities using ‘Tor’, an encryption tool known for its
end-user-hiding properties. Tor can be used spoof location as well, while
running the website with the same effect. In short, it is a tunneling software
which helps keep an identity a secret or anonymous you on the web. Tor provides
secrecy and anonymity by passing messages through a network of connected Tor
relays, which are specially configured computers. As the message hops from one
node to another, it is encrypted in a way that each relay only knows about the
machine that sent the message and the machine it is being sent to — that’s all,
no more information is known about the origin.
It
will be a mistake if you think that Tor is totally anonymous. A website can
still find out information about the person accessing it using the shared
information such as the usernames or email IDs. Those wanting to stay
completely anonymous have to use special 'anonymity services’ to hide their
identity in these cases - and that's where the hackers have an upper hand.
Services
on the Dark Web wouldn't have been possible if there wasn't a way to pay for
them. This is where Bitcoin comes into play. Bitcoin is a crypto currency or a
digital payment system developed by a group of programmers. The system is
peer-to-peer and transactions take place between users directly, without an
intermediary. These transactions are verified by network nodes and recorded in
a public distributed ledger called the block chain. Although the Dark Web users
makes law enforcement agencies’ jobs much more difficult, they play a key role
in bringing down sites and arresting illegal users and the people behind them.
The most famous case was the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, the person behind the
most well-known of the drug markets, Silk Road. It is very clear that we still
have a long way to go until the government, law enforcement or the courts
settle on what are appropriate uses of surveillance both on and offline, and
making it difficult to work out who is behind the sites. Users also cannot find
these websites using casual search engines.
Source | Asian Age | 27 October 2016
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
Nice Information.
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