Should the Dark Web be explored

torrent sites are cluttered with "hacks" and "takeover" algorithms....use a device that has the minimum amount of PERSONAL (if any) information, that you can afford to have on a sign at a busy intersection......and that you can easily C: backslash, and reload the entire operating system, if needed....even then the MBR of a device could be compromised

originally posted by: jimmyx
2nd post

a reply to: liteonit6969

If ATS wants to make a team to explore and document this topic, please count me in.
Respectfully,
Mary

Well if anyone does do this, much luck!

Also, don't forget that the dark web isn't just tor. It's also I2P, GNUnet, and Freenet. Probably some other ones, but those are the more well known ones.

Many years ago, I had a friend who once decided to explore the dark web. They've never been the same since. It truly screwed up their mind for the rest of their life.

It's the reason I'll never come near to exploring that side of the internet.

So again, much luck!

I downloaded everything I needed to surf it but it seemed like i could never actually get to any working sites. Everytime I used a search engine I ended up on a normal website. I made sure to read up on the deepweb lingo to make sure I dodged the kiddie porn and other stuff I didnt want to see. I mainly wanted ufo sites.

If it is conspiracy theory stuff your looking for on the Darkweb / Deepweb forget ToR and those tools to look, all you will find is Garbage that the Click Kiddos and sickos who want to think they are secure and hip hang out. Nothing of good value there.

Now on the other hand there is a part of the web that is almost all but forgotten, where the good stuff and good reads can be found... NNTP servers, Gohper, FidoNet... You may want to look into those internet protocols for finding what your looking for that is the Lost art form of the Net that got forgotten when the Blogosphere and the social media came into being.

Something to Chew on while ya Enjoy A

CoBaZ

I know very little about cyber security, and the dark web - so anyone with a better understanding, feel free to correct me.

If you are speaking of TOR (The Onion Browser) - That is dark web (The content that is cached but needs special ways to view the information) as opposed to deep web, which is uncached websites. You could make a website right now with no links to anything, hosted from your own server and that would be a deep website. Back to the dark web and TOR. Tor was created by an Asian company (I believe - may be mis-remembering), funded in part by US Military (I think NAVY, but could be a different branch, or all branches). Let's look at what the FBI is asking apple to do right now, give them access to a terrorists phone, which would open up the possibility of accessing not just the terrorists phone, but anyone who has an Iphone. Is it absurd to imagine they would request/demand one for a project they helped fund?

This is just speculation, but I would say that the TOR network acts as a filter of sorts - I'll explain why with a metaphor. Let's say me and you are thieves, we hear about a new bar, just for thieves. Yay us! Except now we have all the thieves in one place, meaning it is easier to monitor them, rather than monitor every aspect of the internet, we have them in one section. A lot of users of the dark web are participating in criminal activity. Now, it was officially meant for agents and informants to contact their whomever, if CIA, their contact whatever that person is called. However, by calling it a completely anonymous browser, it also had the added benefit of attracting ne'er-do-wells. Pure speculation, but the other thing is, if they have an exit node, as I understand it, they have access to all connections. (People with exit nodes have been raided by governments for criminal activity, only to find the person was only an exit node, and because of the way TOR works, it showed the exit node as the location of the criminal activity, yet the person was ONLY AN EXIT NODE.)

Now, onto protecting yourself, you have the TOR bundle downloaded, great, so now you are surfing the dark web right? Wrong, you are open to Day Zero attacks. Most Day Zero attacks are originating from the dark web (As I understand it). Have you gone into settings and disabled Java? No? Don't search the dark web. You have windows vista/7/8/10? Do NOT search the dark web. Install Tails on an airgapped laptop and do not use from home. Now that is the extent of my knowledge, other than what you can find on the dark web - The hidden wiki - sounds secretive and has a natural allure to it, it's not, it's just cached pages to direct people, a lot of which are illegal things, while some are not, a lot are.

Here is why I will not use it, as much as I know, there is MUCH I do not, and if the things listed seem techie, and out of your scope, my advice would be to stay away. You aren't going to find the secret to Atlantis, the Pentagons super secret files, or aliens, what you are more than likely going to find are a host of illegal activities that could send your butt to prison.

So personally, my advice is to forget about it, but I understand the curiosity that surrounds it, and ultimately, it is your decision.

a reply to: liteonit6969

no. The dark web should not be explored (I've tried). The dark web should only be destroyed. The information you will find is little. And traumatizing, sub-human interactions dominate.