The Deep Web

So, this has been a topic of interest for me since a few months now. The Deep Web. What exactly is the Deep Web? Now, we all use the internet, we cannot imagine our lives without it, we totally depend on the internet. Can you imagine life without Google? Or Wikipedia? No! But what if I told you that whatever we browse on the internet is merely just 4% of it. What if I told you that what we are browsing is merely called the 'Surface Web' and it is basically the websites that search engines can find or index. So now the questions that arise are: then what does the remaining 96% contain? And how does one access it?

The remaining 96% of the web is known as the Deep Web, which simply means a collection of websites or the part of the internet that has not been indexed or cataloged by search engines. Now having said that, since the Deep Web is kind of off limits, it has become a place known for criminal activities. The Deep Web has been known for numerous activities that are illegal and some of them are absolutely disturbing. Things like stolen credit card numbers, selling of drugs and weapons, prostitution, hackers and hit-men for hire and disturbing videos are often associated with the Deep Web. I know I sound negative here but this what most part of the Deep Web has to offer as of now.

Most of the pages in the Deep Web have the .Onion extension and are browsed using a special browser called TOR or The Onion Router. Various security measures, precautions like proxy servers are also used to maintain anonymity or else things can get pretty serious and even the FBI and other agencies can get involved. The Deep Web has its own EBay called The Silk Road which is currently not functional but it is one of the major sites there that was responsible for the sale of drugs and weapons. Another interesting thing about The Deep Web is that it has its own currency known as BitCoins, all transactions are completed with the exchange of BitCoins and the spending cannot be traced back to the buyers or sellers.

So just take a moment to think about what has been happening under our nose, on the internet for all these years. Researchers and scientists have been trying to find usefulness of the Deep Web and working on ways to make it more secure and legitimate. Now only time will tell what is the next step for the Deep Web. Thank you for reading and yes if you want to go off on an adventure to the Deep Web I recommend you to do some more research, be safe and make sure you do not get into trouble!