The Dark Web or Deep Web

[Jujuluvslife]

I've been hearing quite a bit about the Dark Web or Deep Web. A friend of mine on MFC who is a Network Security guy recently explained it to me like this:

"It is the backend of the internet, you can only get there via a software program called "Tor" it was initially built for top secret CIA government type stuff. Evidently at some point it needed to be expanded so they (I have no idea who they is) put it out there so it could be open sourced. You do not want to explore it, stay away from it."

From what I understand it is wide open, literally. Meaning you can buy and sell drugs, people, kids, have people murdered, pedophiles go there to get tips on how to lure a child, drug them etc.

I saw this recent vid discussing it, they talk about FaceBook now being available there, seems weird considering what I've heard about it.

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Below are two screen shots I found on Google, notice some of the usernames (well that and the Subject of course):​

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I'm starting this thread because I would like more information about this, I have no intention of accessing it, (this shit is pretty scary if you ask me) but I am curious and would like to be more informed. If anyone has any knowledge about it or has been on it and would be willing to share please do.

Peace ~

 

[Bocefish]

Like you, I've only heard rumors about it and the twisted, sick shit that goes on there.

Accessing it probably puts you on some sort of watch list unless you're uber puter savvy.

 

[bakersman]

"Tor" is a way to connect to the internet with an anonymous IP address, that's all (there is good article on wikipedia; search for "tor network"). It routes your traffic through a network of servers and obscures your point of origin. Yes, it is used by criminals and pedophiles but also by activists in oppressive countries.

Your IP address will tell your general location (which is one of the reasons using Skype can be dangerous for cam models), and the ISP that you're connecting with. Go to whatismyip.com and see what it says.

I tried using Tor once and logged into Facebook--Facebook thought I was logging in from Poland and locked my account.

Of course, since then I've read that even using Tor at all puts you under surveillance by US security apparatus (oops), and also that Tor nodes have been compromised.

The twisted shit is out there, and not linked specifically to Tor (which is just a connection method). I don't know anything about how to find shit like that, though I assume the users/operators do whatever they can to make it hard to find (keeping it off of Google searches and the like, only letting in people vouched for by current users, etc.). Gross.

 

[PunkInDrublic]

You can check it out without having to see all the gross stuff. Start at the hidden wiki and see if anything interests you. You'll still see some pretty vile links but most of the really gross sites are just honeypots now.

 

[Sevrin]

You must not confuse "dark" with "deep"!

The "deep" internet is simply content that is not indexed by search engines. Here on ACF, Models Only and VIP are part of the "deep" web. Your chat archives on MFC are part of the "deep" web. Anything behind a captcha is part of the "deep" web. Your Gmail emails are part of the "deep" web.

 

[MadisonMadly]

I sat on a grand jury and a lot of the child pornography and illegal arms dealing cases that came up involved were from agents tracking people on these types of sites. They shut down a ton of stuff though and do actively work to prosecute these people.

 

[PunkInDrublic]

Some of the shit you might read or be told might not be very accurate. Plenty of rumors of live snuff shows and underage camsites but thankfully nobody ever found real proof of this. Most of the assassins for hire are just dudes scamming people out of bitcoins. Same with human traffickers. Freedom Hosting being taken down was a huge victory, even if only to scatter all the pedos. At one point about half of the traffic to the hidden wiki were people accessing sites being hosted by them. Seems a lot more cleaned up. Still a lot of drugs, weapons, credit cards, money laundering, hackers for hire, racists, conspiracy theorists, and some other fucked up stuff like bug chasers. I would hope by now that all the slimy links on the hidden wiki are being monitored or controlled by the FBI.

 

[zippypinhead]

Punk sums it up pretty well. The myth of the "dark web" is far much seedier than the reality. Tor is not the murderers' den that all the hearsay relates it as, and I think it's safe to characterize forums like in the OP screenshots as mostly elaborate role play. Honestly, as far as general purposes go, I've always felt that the most interesting part of anonymous networking is that it has a distinctive "internet circa 1993" feel to it. It loads excruciatingly slow, and it's full of perverts, kooks, and the bored and curious looking for a bit of novelty.

 

[Red7227]

The internet now is a lot cleaner than it was even 10 years ago. Then coming across child porn or amputee bride sites was a daily occurrence no matter what you were actually looking for. These days most of the porn sites are gone, or so well hidden that getting to them requires significant effort. Kink has pretty much destroyed the basement BDSM porn industry by offering a high quality alternative when the safety of the models is assured.

 

[zippypinhead]

The internet now is a lot cleaner than it was even 10 years ago. Then coming across child porn or amputee bride sites was a daily occurrence no matter what you were actually looking for. These days most of the porn sites are gone, or so well hidden that getting to them requires significant effort. Kink has pretty much destroyed the basement BDSM porn industry by offering a high quality alternative when the safety of the models is assured.

I don't know if the internet itself is actually much cleaner than it historically has been. All the filth certainly still exists, and it doesn't even take that significant an effort to find it. That said, the way the internet is interfaced for general daily use has been scrubbed pretty clean, thanks in no small part to incredibly vigorous efforts by google to sanitize its search engine. You can't even play Google Seppuku anymore, which is a real shame.

 

[Jesse0328]

Before it was shut down, The Silk Road was more of the one stop shop for drugs and weapons over Tor. If I had the money, part of me kind of wanted to order a grenade launcher or something just to see if it would show up and how.

 

[ACFFAN69]

Before it was shut down, The Silk Road was more of the one stop shop for drugs and weapons over Tor. If I had the money, part of me kind of wanted to order a grenade launcher or something just to see if it would show up and how.

They only sold weapons for a week or so, then shut down "The armory" section (weapon trade) due to complaints. Everyone was afraid it would attract the attention of law enforcers and the media putting the drug dealing aspect at risk. That worry seems pretty silly in hind-site.

There was a huge string of raids last week, most of the drug selling sites were shut down. There seems to only be one active one now, which is hosted in Russia (Agora). Some suspect it's being used as a honeypot though, directing all traffic through it so that the real bust can occur.

 

[ACFFAN69]

Sorry for the double post, I attempted to edit it but ran out of time:

The person that created "The Silk Road" was a pretty interesting person. He went by the name "Dread Pirate Roberts". This is the pirate in "A Princess Bride", who would pass on the name to a chosen successor and retire rich. The rumour was that the person that ran the site would do the same. He would constantly make libertarian philosophical posts on the site that were very inspirational. It may sound strange, but he had a very mythical aura about him. Many wonder if the person that was arrested for running the site was in fact the person that created it in the first place. Regardless, whoever was arrested had 30,000+ bitcoins in his account (which if memory serves me correct, a bitcoin was worth $900 at the time. Now they are approximately $400).

 

[Ambers Troll]

WikiLeaks has combined high-end security technologies with journalism and ethical principles. Like other media outlets conducting investigative journalism, we accept (but do not solicit) anonymous sources of information. Unlike other outlets, we provide a high security anonymous drop box fortified by cutting-edge cryptographic information technologies.

Here is an example of a deep web program, it is simply a way for any group to communicate anonymously over the web.
Nothing sinister until someone sinister uses it.

 

[BritneySiren]

interesting... I've heard of this but don't really know of anyone whose personally used it for anything. I wonder if it's as bad as they say as well. A lot of stuff gets over hyped or spun a certain way when it's not that bad

 

[PunkInDrublic]

Most of the drug dealers were legit I've heard. They have a rating and review system and many were reliable I guess. No idea really on the weapons, I'd imagine the dudes selling handguns and smaller stuff were legit. Remember seeing an older episode of Vice where a dude bought a handgun. New drug sites popped up the day after Silk Road went down with a lot of the same dealers. Fappening could of been dudes that hung out at an invite only onion site that required some sorta show of skill or contribution to be let in. I mentioned Tor here in a post in 2011 and it had way more of a wild west feeling back then. Hidden wiki was way more gross. If anyone is that interested, dl Tor and use google to find whatever the hidden wiki address is now. Just don't click on any links that are clearly marked as something illegal.

edit dude deleted his post so it looks like I'm kinda just ramblin, which ain't that out of the ordinary but it would make more sense if it was still there