When george lucas devised starwars perhaps he did not imagine that the Dark Side of the Force would come to gain so much weight in the 21st century. We all have a dark side that we only show at certain times or to certain people. On the Internet, that infinite and imminent window to content, we can find multiple links that lead us to discover information or events that the usual search tools do not offer us.
It is a Dark Side not led by Sith Lord Darth Sidious and his disciples, but by many people who, in a hidden way, pull the strings to “sell” sensitive content to the general audience. We all know browsers like Edge, Safari or Chrome and search engines like Google or Bing. But these only give us access to the superficial and transparent layer of the Internet.
Onion and its layers
As if it were an onion, under the first layer we find a second. It is not indexed by search engines, so they include protected content that can only be accessed if you are part of a private forum or group. As search engines do not catalog these pages, we will need the exact link to access them. This includes medical consultations, government pages or specific records.
If you dig a little deeper you reach the deepest layer; the heart of our onion. The dark web or Dark Web requires special software to access it. You must install a virtual private network (VPN) and use a central privacy browser like the tor network to connect via proxy servers and nodes. In this way, confidentiality and security will be gained. Thanks to the Tor Browser we will have access to special domains with the .onion suffix.
Is the Dark Web synonymous with crime?
What needs to be hidden in order to be present on the network is not always appropriate or legal content. On the Dark Web, issues related to terrorism, drugs or weapons are the order of the day, and those who can access it, can consult it and even get hold of it with ease.
According to him 2022 Kela Threat Intelligence Reportthe 48% of companies do not have a data protection policy against data theft by the Dark Web, despite the latent threat it poses.
But despite everything, the Dark Web also becomes speaker Social for those people who live in areas where censorship prevails and freedom of expression does not exist. Journalists, lawyers or protest groups find in the Dark Web an ally to express their opinions and ideals against political and police oppression.
The dark side of the internet: how to access the Dark Web
What risks does the Dark Web carry?
There are multiple dangers that lurk when entering the Dark Web. The most imminent are illegal or clandestine markets based on the sale of drugs, weapons, forged documents or stolen information. Being on the Dark Web or buying these items with cryptocurrencies does not prevent tracking. The scams They are very common. The visits to extreme content they make us accomplices of them, and more if we proceed to download said abusive material.
To walk the Dark Web you have to walk with lead feetbecause they are very popular malware that include Trojans, exploit kits or ransomware to steal information and compromise our devices. They can also subject us to attempts to phishing.
How to access the Dark Web?
With a virtual private network (VPN) we will hide our location and keep ourselves hidden from illegal eavesdropping. For all this, we will select the location from which we want to appear and the VPNs will use a series of servers to make it difficult to track our IP. With VPNs you access geo-blocked content, so the best options out there are based on prepaid subscription services. As we have mentioned before, Tor Browser It will be the browser that we must use to avoid online fingerprinting and trackers.
The use of the Dark Web in most countries is legal, what is not allowed is its use for criminal purposes. In fact, in countries like China or Iran, staying in the shadow of the Internet is not well seen. News of police hits against illicit actions are constantly coming to light through the Dark Web. It recently came out in the media the news of the teacher of the Virgen de Europa private school in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) who recorded his students changing and then dedicated himself to uploading said pedophile material to the Dark Web.
You will all know the hit Netflix series “Narcos”. Well, those past events that are related also extend to the present in a digitalized way, through the Dark Web. In fact, in Mexico, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operate freely on the Dark Web. behind the simple appearance of pharmacy. Users can order up to a kilo of cocaine and have it available in less than 48 hours.
