The Internet is massive. Millions of web pages, databases and servers all run 24-hours a day, seven-days a week.
The “visible” internet or “Surface Web,” has the sites that can be found using search engines like Google and Yahoo. The Surface Web is just the tip of the iceberg.
Below the surface is the “Deep Web,” which accounts for approximately 90 percent of all websites. These sites contain legal documents, scientific reports, government records, financial records, academic records and the like.
Next lower is the “Dark Web,” which refers specifically to a collection of websites that exist on an encrypted network that cannot be found by using traditional search engines like Google and Yahoo, or visited using traditional browsers.
This Dark Web was once the province of hackers, law enforcement officers and criminals. However, the browser software, TOR, now makes it possible for anyone to dive deep, if interested in this “dark world.” Please understand that this Dark Web is still “dark” because website identity is hidden in the TOR browser, so you can never be sure what you are visiting. Read on.
