How to Access the Dark Web
What is the Dark Web?
The deep web, not to be confused with the dark web, is the part of the web that can't be reached typical search engines and often requires getting through additional layers of encryption to access. The dark web goes a step further, providing even more layers of encryption to grant users complete anonymity. To access to the dark web you need specific software called The Onion Router (TOR). You can access the deep web through Google Chrome or a typical web browser. I am going to get you online with TOR, but I do warn you, don't go looking for stuff on the dark web that you don't want to see. I am scared for life because one time, out of curiosity, I went exploring just to see if stuff was there - it was there and I'll never unsee it.
What can you buy on the dark web?
You can buy credit card numbers, all sorts of drugs, guns, counterfeit money, stolen subscription credentials, hacker Netflix accounts and software and services used for spying and hacking.
I haven't been on the dark web in the better part of ten years probably because its not my cup of tea, but everyone should know how. There might be a day when you need to know how to use it for legitimate purposes. If our critical infrastructure was compromised, it might mean the health and wellness of your family to be able to anonymously access resources on the dark web. The bottom line is, you should know how, because the time might come when you need it just like you might rotate gas cans in your garage just in case of a disaster.
There once was a time when trackers didn't exist, and it was easy to coast through the internet with your handle and be pretty safe knowing no one knew who you are. The fabric of society is now tied into the internet and its just not a separate world anymore. I wish it was.
Anyhow, I don't want to get off on some tangent about the hopelessness of privacy and teach you how to be private in case you ever need it.
First, this is best done on a fresh burner Linux machine. Microsoft has trackers built into their operating system. But let's just assume you don't care about Microsoft knowing what you're doing and just want to explore the dark web out of curiosity, but remember don't go looking for stuff to see if its there; its there.
Understanding TOR
To understand The Onion Router, you have to understand the OSI model. There are two different, let's say, products that TOR offers. There is TOR, which is the routing software. You can kind of think of it like a VPN. And there is TOR Browser. Think of it like TOR works at the routing layer and takes all of your internet traffic and adds a bunch of wrappers to it so no one can see what’s inside of it and it addresses that package to a point somewhere on the internet. When the traffic leaves your computer it goes to your upstream router that your ISP owns and at this point they know that you are sending traffic to the TOR network, but they don't know what's inside of the wrapper. They know this because TOR exit nodes are public knowledge.
So while your traffic is anonymized, the fact that you're using TOR is well known.
OK, your ISP hands off this wrapped package and delivers it to someone that has setup what's called a TOR Exit Node. Contrary to its name, TOR exit nodes both ingress encrypted traffic and egress plain traffic. So your encrypted traffic goes into this exit node and then it just hops around the planet with the intention to mask where it came from. It keeps removing a layer of wrapping to this package. This hopping makes TOR SLOOOOW. It takes a long time to send your package back and forth across the globe.
Now, it has only one wrapper on it that it can now leave the TOR network. Normal internet wouldn't know what to do it with it if it didn't look like normal traffic.. so it goes back out a different TOR exit node that it came in and this time that exit node strips away the last wrapper and your traffic leaves the TOR network as plain jain traffic as if it were leaving your computer, except now, no one knows who the traffic came from. It looks like it came from the exit node, not from you.
But there are many problems with this. First, most of the internets traffic is already encrypted using SSL/TLS. People would know who you're sending to, and where it came from, but they couldn't see what's inside the package already.
When you use TOR the destination won't know where the traffic came from, unless its inside of the package.... which a lot of the time it is, by cookies or other trackers and fingerprints or whatever personally identifiable information that may be in it. There is usually a way to identify the sender if you had enough data.
Also, the exit node that strips away all of the layers to send your plain traffic, they can and will inspect the package and they might be able to determine it came from you so they'll know what you're doing and who you're communicating with.
Law enforcement is notorious for operating TOR Exit Nodes so they can keep a log on who is sending what traffic.
Tor Browser is a package that TOR offers that includes a FireFox privacy variant bundled with their routing software. Its an easy way to get on the TOR Network and that is what we will be using.
Since TOR Browser works at the application layer, specifically with TOR Browser, any other traffic for any other applications would not be routed over TOR. Which means if you're not doing it in TOR Browser then it's not anonymized.
TOR can also be used to encrypt and send tunneled traffic that isn't through a browser. That was it's original intent before it became used primarily for browsing websites anonymously. If you are using a command line program to execute and send commands over the internet and not using the web browser, you can anonymize that traffic using TOR. But just so that we're clear TOR Browser wouldn't help you much keeping you anonymized.
Downloading TOR Browser
We are going to be browsing the internet today, not launching a command and control server so the rest of this is fairly straightforward. Visit here and download TOR Browser. The TOR network websites all end with a ".onion" address.
From here you can search around the the normal web for information leading you to illicit ".onion" addresses. You can start by going to a search engine like this and looking for stuff.
http://haystak5njsmn2hqkewecpaxetahtwhsbsa64jom2k22z5afxhnpxfid.onion/
May you explore safely with an understanding of TOR and the dark web.
Tyler Wall is the founder of Cyber NOW Education. He holds bills for a Master of Science from Purdue University and CISSP, CCSK, CFSR, CEH, Sec+, Net+, and A+ certifications. He mastered the SOC after having held every position from analyst to architect and is the author of three books, 100+ professional articles, and ten online courses specifically for SOC analysts.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn.
You can sign up for a Lifetime Membership of Cyber NOW® with a special deal for 15% off with coupon code "KB15OFF" which includes all courses, certification, the cyber range, the hacking lab, webinars, the extensive knowledge base, forums, and spotlight eligibility, to name a few benefits.
Download the Azure Security Labs eBook from the Secure Style Store. These labs walk you through several hands-on fun labs in Microsoft Azure, leaving you with the know-how to create a gig in Fiverr or Upwork to start your cybersecurity freelancing.
Some of our free resources include the Forums, the Knowledge Base, our True Entry Level SOC Analyst Jobs, Job Hunting Application Tracker, Resume Template, and Weekly Networking Checklist. Ensure you create an account or enter your email to stay informed of our free giveaways and promos, which we often offer.
Check out my latest book, Jump-start Your SOC Analyst Career: A Roadmap to Cybersecurity Success, 2nd edition, published June 1st, 2024, and winner of the 2024 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards and a finalist in the Best Book Awards. If you enjoy audiobooks, I suggest the Audible version, but you can also get it in beautiful paperback, kindle, or PDF versions. The downloadable PDF version can be grabbed here.
Comments