Darknet: Between crime and revolution

Darknet, deep web, clearnet: The paths of the internet are more tortuous than many might think. The Darknet is particularly fascinating, as it symbolizes the use of robbers’ guns, such as the legendary history of the Silk Road, the first major Darknet marketplace. But the dark web is more than just a gateway to the underworld. In addition to drug deals, pornography and arms trafficking, the dark web is often the only connection to the free internet – and thus to the outside world – for human rights activists, members of the opposition and other freedom-loving people Unjust regimes in Russia and Iran difficult to impossible.

What is the dark web?

The name comes from the fact that we are dealing with a phenomenon that usually escapes the attention of the average surfer. Dedicated Darknet sites cannot be accessed via normal browsers such as Safari, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. In order to get to the pages, you need a special browser, such as the Tor Browser (more on this below).

The basic idea of ​​the Darknet is significantly improved anonymity compared to conventional browser surfing. While Internet activity is usually traceable, Tor Browser sends data packets in encrypted form, making them more private.

Who uses it?

There are essentially three user groups.

1. journalists

People in journalistic professions often resort to the dark web in order not to jeopardize their research results. In unjust regimes, these can be dissidents, whose activism and investigative work may be punishable under certain circumstances. In order to protect themselves and their sources, journalists therefore rely on anonymous communication channels such as the Darknet.

2. activist

The dark web not only offers access to non-indexed websites, but also anonymous communication channels for activists. For example, the Iranian opposition has been using the “Snowflake” browser add-on since the beginning of the revolution, with which internet censorship in the Islamic Republic, which even restricts the Tor browser, can be circumvented.

For this to work, a counterpart must do the same at the other end of the line, i.e. in a free country without censorship. So if you want to support the goals of the Iranian opposition, for example, you should think about installing snowflakes ponder.

3. criminal

Yes, criminals also use the dark web. Websites that sell just about anything from drugs to credit card numbers that the open market doesn’t sell aren’t clichés, they actually exist. In the press, however, the sheer existence of drug markets is often used as an excuse to discredit the dark web itself. However, that is about as logical as criticizing Bitcoin for being used for money laundering by a small portion of its users.

In the cover story of issue 53 of the BTC-ECHO magazine, we wrote how much crypto is actually in the Darknet.

Dark web access: How to get into the dark web?

So let’s make it clear: The dark web is basically a tool for anonymous communication and bypassing blocks on the Internet. What you do with this tool is up to you. But: How do I get into the dark web?

Dark web browsers – all about TOR

First you need to download Tor Browser. TOR stands for “The Onion Router” and refers to the idea of ​​a layer-based encryption scheme for connection data that does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the origin of the request.

You can use the TOR browser here download.

Then you have to install the Tor Browser.

And off we go.

You can use the Tor Browser to visit normal Clearweb sites such as btc-echo.de. At the same time, however, it also acts as a gateway into the “hidden” world of the Internet. Tor websites are special websites that end with .onion and can only be reached using the Tor browser.

Is this all illegal?

Visiting dark web sites is not illegal. However, it is possible that depictions of abuse by children are stored in the browser cache – that would be punishable.

The purchase of narcotics or even weapons is also punishable in Germany. Therefore, this article is for informational purposes only and is in no way intended as an incitement to commit crime.