In today’s world, the internet has become a need, a platform where information is exchanged globally through this network. The internet is becoming more complicated day by day, containing a wide range of information that is beyond our imagination. Because of the complexity of this network system, our minds can get anxious because of so much content we don’t know and, don’t have control over. This worry becomes even more when we run into, the news about the dark web. But the question arises here, what is the dark web, and what is its impact?
What Is The Dark Web?
The dark net is the world wide Web content that is a hidden collective of the internet that can accessed with specialized web browsers only. This can be useful for both legal and illegal applications as it is used to keep internet activity private. Although the dark web forms a small part of the deep web, this part of the web is not like the “Visible” part of the internet like Google or Facebook, which can be indexed easily by search engines. Sometimes people use the deep web and dark web interchangeably. But these terminologies are different from each other. Deep web refers to the information that is available on the internet and can be easily found by users like Google.
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On the other hand, the Dark web or darknet, a subset of the deep web can be accessible only to specific networks such as Tor( the onion routing)
There are certain internet layouts and key terms to better understand the dark web.
What is a surface web and a deep web?
Surface web
The surface web or open web is also known as the visible surface layer. This content is made for public viewing. Locating the surface web is easy because of search engines that help in indexing these visible links.
If one wants to visualize what exactly is surface layer is, Think of it like the entire web is an iceberg, and the top part above the water would be the surface web. This collection of websites and data makes up 5% of the total internet.
Deep web
The deep web or deep net, is hidden and is not visible to day-to-day internet users. It comes under the World Wide Web but rests underneath the surface web. The accessibility to the deep web is not through the normal search engines, as its access is around 0.3% percent of all the information available on the internet. Most of the deep web portion is legal and safe. It mainly includes:
- Databases
- Intranets
- online banking
- social media apps
- forums
What is a Tor browser?
The onion routing (Tor) was developed to keep US communications safe from dangers. This project has a preferred method to access dark web content. It uses three layers of encryption and maintains complete anonymity by giving specific trafficking routing mechanisms. Tor makes internet users share data in confidence without getting traced.
However, it is important to note that Tor and other networks that use Tor are only meant for protecting online communications.
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Threats on the dark web?
If anyone considering using the dark web for privacy purposes, then might show their concern over the question ” Is it safe to use the dark web? But yes, it can be a very dangerous place for users. Many threats are there while using the dark web.
Some of the threats are:
- Scams: It has been always advised that one should always be cautious while using the dark web. Scams are quite common on the dark web because many dark web websites are designed in a way to steal the user’s personal information or money.
Professional hitmen are scams designed to get profit from the customers. - Malware: Malware, or malicious software is common across the dark web. Users can find themselves exposed to some malware like
- Ransomware: Extortion-related cases are quite common here.
- Botnet malware: It creates a large amount of bot-related traffic structured with command and control services generally based on censorship-resistant hidden services.
- Illegal activities: Many illegal activities such as human trafficking, trading of weapons, etc., are present on the dark web.
What is the impact of the dark web on people’s life?
Since we talked about the dark web, other internet layout terms, and threats in using the dark web, let’s see how it has an impact on our lives. The dark web is considered as the dark side of the deep web, only accessible through unique browsers.
It has positive and negative impacts on people’s lives.
Positive Impact
It provides a place for privacy and anonymity for the users. This anonymity helps whistleblowers, to release their reports online like corruption in health governance, stewardship, and drug approvals, in order to seek protection from surveillance.
Not only privacy, but the It also gives the users freedom of speech and expression. Many activist journalists sometimes write information that isn’t allowed to be shown on the social web because of censorship. But, the dark web allows this information without getting censored.
Another positive impact is that it helps in research work. Sometimes, Many researchers use the dark web to get access to research topics that cannot be available on the visible web, so the articles and books from the dark web become a rescuer.
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Negative Impact
It is important to see the negative impact that the dark web can have on people’s lives if not used with caution
As from the past discussion, it has become evident that the dark web is a seedbed for many illegal activities, but through the years, the transplantation of organs has started increasing its graph. Statistics have shown that every year around 10 % of people who are on the wait list die or become very sick. The crypto market covers 5 to 10% of the kidney transplant industry. The price of any transplantable has doubled from 2008 to 2015 on the dark web, which leaves the situation worried.
It should be the duty of physicians who deal with transplant patients to aware people of the dark web and its possible dangers.
Another serious impact of the dark net is online attacks on websites.
All the websites/online platforms are susceptible to these online attacks. According to data approximately 16 million medical devices have been stolen by hackers from various healthcare organizations. All this information was traded on the darknet which includes the patient’s medical records.
It should be the duty of healthcare providers to be aware of the potential dangers of the dark web. hacking of any medical electronic device is also possible. It can be a ventilator or an insulin pump. Child trafficking is also one of the negative impacts of the dark web.
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It has been shown that in many developed countries, due to easy access to the internet dark web has become a fertile ground for online sex offenders.
Women are also being tortured and killed at the request of customers in exchange for Bitcoin and online live rooms called red rooms.
Is It Illegal To Use The Dark Web?
After all the discussions that have been discussed in this article, the question comes to the mind is it illegal to use the dark web?
The answer to this question would be that not everything on the dark web is not illegal. We have a positive impact on many individuals for their research and to express their views without any censorship. But it is important to note that this anonymity may be proven as a threat.
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