The Dark Web
If you were able to attend the meeting in which we talked about the internet and the dark web, then go ahead and download the resources here that will get you on to the dark web. There is also a text file with .onion URLs that we discussed during the meeting. If you did not attend the meeting, then I recommend you read what is below to get a decent understanding of how all of this works and what it means to access the dark web.
Resources
Link to download TOR browser:
TOR Browser
Link to download TAILS. Follow the instructions on how to verify your download:
TAILS
For those curious, TAILS will help you become more anonymous if you are trying to be extra careful when on the dark web. I have TOR on my mac, and I use it to access the dark web when I'm bored or want to access a specific site with a little more anonymity.
Google as a Browser
Google sells ads not only on their search engine, but also on over 2.2 million other websites and over 1 million apps. Every time you visit one of these sites or apps, Google is storing that information and using it to target ads at you. A quick alternative can be to switch to Firefox. Firefox keeps very little data on you and blocks third-party tracking cookies by default. Firefox is not watching you.
Google as a Search Engine
Search engines are your second gate keeper to the internet, right after your ISP. Google tweaks what and how results appear on the page, which changes how you think. Average users don't understand just how much Google knows about them. It goes against what search engines are made for, providing organic search results. Organic search result refers to how all pages are indexed based on the search term and the content of the website alone, and they are ranked according to how well these two parameters match.
See for yourself. Go ahead and google "is Google manipulating search results" on google.com. Then search it again on another search engine, such as duckduckgo.com, and take a look at the difference. Google places content they want above the organic search results, making you scroll and making it more difficult to get to the organic results.
You can switch to a private search engine such as Duck Duck Go. They are great! They block sites from tracking you, and they don't keep any data on you. They don't care where you're going.
Incognito Mode
If you were wondering why ads still follow you around when you are in incognito mode it is because incognito mode only deletes your local search and browsing history, just the content on your computer. Websites, search engines, internet service providers, and governments can still easily track you across the web.
Virtual Private Network
VPNs, do you know what they really do?
Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) can see the domain name of the site that you are visiting, and there could be very good reasons to hide those. Domain name refers to the main name of the site. So, if you go to, (NOTE: this is NOT a real site), https://YouTube.com/something/interesting/watchtv?=aerSnfSLflag{you_found_me}F9u$34t9g, the only thing that your ISP is going to see is that you went to YouTube.com, which is meta data. Your country may allow ISPs to sell that data to advertisers to build up a profile on you. Maybe you are studying at a fundamentalists Christian college and you don't want the university administrators knowing that you are questioning your faith. Maybe your government is blocking content and you want to get around it.
If you are getting a VPN because you are concerned that your ISP is reading your messages, you don't need to get one. As long as there is a padlock in the browser, typically directly to the left of the URL, then your data is encrypted. If you are using any modern app, then again, your data is encrypted. If you do use a VPN, all you are doing is changing who can see that meta data. Now what your ISP sees is the location of the server of the VPN that you are using. If you don't trust your ISP, why do you trust your VPN Service? There are many VPN services that have been hacked and caught logging information without permission. If you decide to use a VPN, then make sure you do your research on the company. Many of them are in it for the money.
Many of the claims VPN services use to reel you in are a load of cr*p. If they say that they don't log your data no matter what, then that would be crazy. If that were true, then their services would immediately be used for criminal activity, and if they told you that they do log all of your data, then they are going to get no customers. You just have to make sure they don't log your data without your permission. If they do, people will eventually find out and they will go bankrupt.
Another thing they'll use to try and reel you in is they will say that they use military grade encryption. This is AES, advanced encryption standard, and it is used on almost every site now by default. Don't believe me? Go to YouTube, click on the padlock in the browser, then click on the arrow next to "connection secure", and then click on more information. That's right, they use military grade encryption as well, pretty crazy right?! Unless you are being targeted by the government, using a VPN doesn't make your passwords and financial data any more safe. They are already pretty safe.
You may be wondering, "Hey person who created this github who's name shall never be revealed, when is a good time to use a VPN?". Well, assuming that you did your research and found a VPN that you can trust, then a good time to use one would be if you want a higher level of security for online services such as banking, a secure internet connection in public places, access to your favorite video streaming content anywhere in the world, or to stay anonymous when shopping online.
Just keep the following in mind. VPNs are useful, but not for everyday internet activity. Your ISP, such as Verizon, has no interest other than collecting your data, such as domain names you visit. But that is something that they need because they need to send that information to a DNS server which then finds the IP address for the URL that you are trying to visit. Also, can you trust the VPN service you are using? My intention isn't to scare you into never going on the internet again, it is just to inform you on what is happening. You deserve to know, we all deserve to know. Our privacy is our right and there are things in which we would rather the world not know. As I mentioned earlier, your messages are now encrypted by default, so no one can read the entire data that is being sent when you are visiting a website, just the domain name.
When searching for a VPN service to use, keep the following in mind. Your VPN is owned by a private corporation. Your VPN provider determines the available servers. Your VPN provider has no proof that they keep your data safe. Your VPN provider is in control of the entire traffic. Have fun researching!! :)
You can also set up your own VPN, and it would actually cost less than paying for a VPN service, but that's its own presentation. Let me know if that is something you would be interested in learning more about, if you even know who this is.
One VPN worth checking out is ProtonVPN. It's free, and they have paid options if you want more perks. They are also a great secure e-mail service if you want to upgrade your email.
The Internet
The internet was actually coined for a short word for inter-networking. The internet is a huge system of interconnected intranets or computer networks from all over the globe. The internet supports lots of different services, just one of which is the world wide web.
Internet Infrastructure
The internet works as a distributed system made up of lots of smaller computer networks owned by various ISPs, universities, governments, and other organizations that are all linked together through what is called peering agreements. There are organizations that help coordinate and direct internet traffic so that compatibility is maintained. One of the most well-known from these groups is ICANN, which maps IP addresses to internet domain names. When you enter YouTube.com in your web browser, it actually isn't enough information for your computer to know what website to show you; therefore, your ISP directs it to a DNS server which matches what you typed to the IP address that corresponds to it so you can connect and get the information that you need.
You may have a lot of questions with one of them being, "How does the content of the website physically get to my PC?". One of the great features of the internet is that it is a packet switched network, meaning that all data is broken up into little packets and then reassembled once it arrives at your computer. The advantage to this approach with computer data is that it allows each packet to take the most efficient route possible. This means that if everyone in the town next over from you, where your traffic would have normally gone, starts streaming Game of Thrones at exactly the same time, it will congest any nearby nodes. This will cause some of your packets to slow down. The remaining packets can be easily and dynamically rerouted via another path, even mid file, so your internet speed stays high.
The World Wide Web
The World Wide Web uses URLs or Uniform Resource Locators to locate stuff, and hypertext languages such as HTML that can be rendered by your internet browser as a web page. It is essentially a virtual space where all the great content is stored and accessed using a protocol called HTTP, but the internet is the thing that keeps it all connected. Plenty of stuff that we use, probably on a daily basis, is not a part of the web. For example, if you use a non-browser based email server, through a program like Outlook, you are probably using protocols such as SMTP or POP which lie outside the web.
What is a Protocol
A protocol is a set of common rules that controls communication between two or more devices on a specific medium like a wire or a radio wave. A network uses the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) stack to communicate with other applications. It is a set of network protocols stacked over each other and designed to work with each other.
The Deep Web
The deep web is not a place, it is not hidden, and it actually harbors 0 criminal activity. The deep web is simply the unindexed content online, the raw data that Google doesn't know about and Google doesn't care about. It is the stuff on the internet that you can't bring up with a simple google search. Any page that you can't get to without needing to have the actual URL and the permissions to access it. This includes things such as private social media profiles, hidden sub reddits, medical and scientific and business databases, and bank account information. That is a whole lot of information. It is estimated the deep web makes up 99% of the world wide web and the surface web makes up only 1%. If this is all new to you, you have to be freaking out right now. If you need to walk away for a few minutes to let that sink in, then go ahead, I'll wait.
The Dark Net
The reason why you're reading this is probably to learn about the dark web or dark net. Well, you made it, let's talk about it. If you are someone that skipped the whole beginning and this is the first section you are reading, shame on you. Get back to the top and read, I promise you'll learn something. Anyways, what is the dark net?
The dark net is a hidden area comprised of information that is actively hidden from the public. The dark net can only be accessed by specific tools such as the TOR browser. You can download the TOR browser from the internet. It is free and open-source. TOR is a special service. It makes your browsing activity and gets you into the dark web. Will you find crime? Yes, but not to the degree that the media has claimed. Crime is neither the primary use of the dark net nor why it was built.
The dark net is just another tool, and it is used by government agencies, journalists, anyone living in hostile governments, whistleblowers, and just regular people who want to create and utilize anonymous online communities. Like any place where human beings congregate, there is illegal activity. You may be wondering why you only hear bad things about the dark net. This is because it sells. It's good click bait. There is also another agenda at work, and it's to demonize the dark web and to scare people away from it. People in power try to do that because they believe if everyone was private and anonymous on the internet, then they will lose control.
However you choose to judge it, one of the main reasons why the silk road was created was to fight back against that sort of control. It was built and operated in a hidden area and was operated by anonymous users.
Privacy serves a purpose, it is why we have blinds on our windows and a door on our bathroom. We have plenty to hide, and it has always been our right to hide it...until now. Because today there are people that don't want us to protect our privacy, who in a large degree already have free access to our personal information. This includes tech and phone companies, law enforcement, and black hat hackers.
The Dark Web text
The darkweb.txt document contains URLs to websites and .onion sites to help with being anonymous when on the dark web. You will also find links to a few dark web search engines which can help you find other dark web sites. Have fun, be safe, and stay anonymous!