In a conversation about the “dark web,” at a dinner party, someone mentions that they’ve heard rumors about it. People lean in to listen. Jokes are made. Hitmen. Stolen credit cards. Thirty seconds later, the discussion moves along to other long-standing myths, which were generated by movies, TV shows, and sensationalized news reports, over a decade ago.
The truth of the dark web is messy, more intriguing, and much less dramatic than popular perception. The dark web exists, hosts activities that are unsettling, and warrants concern – however most people’s perceptions about it are gross exaggerations or entirely inaccurate. These misconceptions impact how we think about privacy, technology, and our safety while using the Internet.
Below are five of the largest misconceptions that need to be corrected:
Myth #1. The Dark Web is only used by Criminals
One of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of the dark web is the misconception that anyone who accesses the dark web is committing a crime. Accessing the dark web in the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, most of Europe (eu), and nearly all countries around the world is not a crime. Installing the Tor browser to access the dark web is also completely legal and takes roughly as much time as installing Google Chrome.
However, some activities that take place on the dark web are crimes: purchasing stolen information, engaging in illegal transactions for illicit products/goods/services, contracting with illicit services/vendors/individuals, etc. All of the above are crimes anywhere and anytime they occur. Therefore, you can commit crimes using the surface Web as well as the dark web. The primary difference is that the dark web provides additional anonymity.
The misinformation regarding legality is important due to the fact that it deters lawful individuals interested in learning about a technology that has become increasingly applicable to their everyday experiences. When you learn how something functions, you are able to begin safeguarding yourself against potential misuse.
Myth #2. The Dark Web was created by hackers/Criminals
If you had ever questioned who originally created the dark web, I’m sure you’ll be surprised by the response: it wasn’t hackers, drug dealers, or shady cyber-crooks. It was the US government.
In particular, the original development of onion-routing was created by researchers working at the United States navy research laboratory in the early-to-mid-1990s. Onion-routing was intended to provide secure communication protection to intelligence agencies via the Internet. The basic premise behind onion-routing was to route Internet traffic through multiple layers of encryption such that no individual could view both the sender and receiver of messages simultaneously. Due to its ability to hide intelligence agency communications, the onion-routing project was eventually made available publicly in order to make it difficult for adversaries to identify when US intelligence agencies were communicating exclusively within their networks. As a result, the project was converted into Tor software and ultimately Tor became the gateway to what we currently refer to as the dark web. If you’re interested in learning about the fascinating history of who created the dark web, you’ll find that it includes military researchers, privacy advocates, mathematical academics and ultimately a community of international developers — not cartoon-like villains as portrayed in media outlets.
Myth #3. Everyone who uses the Dark Web must be a criminal
While studies show that there are certainly criminals utilizing the dark web, research clearly indicates that the actual user demographics on the dark web are significantly more diversified than depicted by mainstream media outlets. Examples include:
- Journalists attempting to protect their sources from governments that would arrest them/jail them/kill them for writing truthful stories. Many major news organizations have created mirror sites of their news organizations on the dark web for Journalists wishing to remain anonymous when sharing information.
- Whistle-blowers seek ways to safely submit information related to wrongdoing without initially identifying themselves. There exist tools like SecureDrop that numerous newsrooms utilize in conjunction with onion-routed websites in order to allow Whistleblowers safe passage to submit documents anonymously.
- Activists/dissidents residing under oppressive regimes that monitor Internet usage and can jail/arrest/harm citizens based upon various forms of Internet activity. For individuals such as these, access to the dark web represents a lifeline.
- Lawful citizens desiring complete control over their online data who wish to avoid having their browsing/search histories harvested by advertising companies/data brokers.
- Researchers/staff members working in cybersecurity industries analyzing threats monitoring for stolen information and assisting organizations defend themselves against cyberattacks.
By reducing each category of individuals listed above to merely “Criminals” does not accurately reflect reality and further creates a stigma surrounding legitimate uses of privacy technologies that many citizens may require at some point in time.
Myth #4. It is huge & nearly everything on the Internet is “dark”
Chances are that you have viewed or seen illustrations similar to this picture depicting an iceberg. A small portion at the top of the iceberg represents the “surface web” that you use every day. The bulk of the iceberg below the waterline represents the “deep web”, whereas a large section at the bottom of the iceberg represents what is referred to as the “dark web”. Although this illustration is memorable, it also misrepresents reality. Estimates vary widely regarding size of the dark web — but generally most reputable experts agree that it is relatively small. Less than 1% of all Internet users estimate that there are tens-of-thousands rather than millions of active hidden services on any given day. Compare this to approximately 8 billion indexed pages found solely on the surface Web.
What constitutes a massive component of the Internet is not the “dark web” but instead the “deep Web” — and this too represents an altogether different concept. Deep-Web refers to anything that is not indexed by search engines — examples include: emails stored in your email account; login portals to your bank accounts; medical records; private cloud storage; pay-walled scientific journals/articles; internal company systems. None of these represent mysterious or dangerous concepts — rather they are areas where virtually all of your daily online life occurs. Combining the concepts of deep-Web with dark-Web results in an overly distorted portrayal of how widespread dark-Web truly is.
Myth #5. Stay away from it & you will be fine
Perhaps this represents one of the most potentially damaging misconceptions of all — as it lulls individuals into thinking they are safer than they truly are. What needs to be understood is that your personally identifiable information (pii) may already be located somewhere on the dark-Web — even if you have never accessed it.
As previously mentioned earlier, whenever an organization you conduct business with suffers a breach (and breaches occur regularly), whatever pii has been stolen is typically for sale on hidden marketplaces. Your email address/password/phone number/date of birth/home address/Social Security number/etc., can be bundled together and sold to whoever offers the highest price bid — regardless of your actions toward interacting with Tor.
For this reason alone awareness is crucial. Implementing best practices to safeguard your identity — i.e., implementing complex passwords across all accounts; enabling two-factor authentication; placing freezes on your credit report; and closely monitoring breach notifications — will keep you protected from identity theft whether or not you interact with Tor.
Furthermore, for those interested in gaining more insight regarding what types of items exist on Tor and/or methods for maintaining your security prior to entering the dark-Web — there exist trusted resources providing knowledge regarding safe navigation on Tor.
Conclusion
The dark web is not as foreboding as perceived in popular media; nor is it a novelty. Rather it is a tool — with a rich history; containing users representing a variety of backgrounds; and possessing serious ramifications for everyone utilizing the Internet today. When you develop a clear understanding regarding what it truly entails; who constructed it; and how it operates; you will be positioned far more securely than any degree of general unease will enable you to protect yourself.
The most concerning aspect of the dark web — for most individuals — isn’t what resides there… but rather how much they don’t comprehend about it.
