Myths and misconceptions, there are false stories about the dark web since criminals use the dark web and often sell stolen company information.
This is all true, of course. But many people still need to learn about the dark web, how it works, and what threats and trends we should be worried about. Here are the most popular misconceptions about the anonymity web network:
Most of what you’ve heard about the dark web is not true. Following are common misconceptions and myths associated with the dark web, providing accurate information to users.
- Dark web and the Deep web are the same
People often think that the deep web and the dark web are the same thing, but officially they are not.
There are different areas of the dark web, such as the surface web, the deep web, and Marian’s Web. The deep web is part of the Internet that search engines don’t crawl, like
- Bing
The “dark web” is made up of websites that are built on top of privacy networks like
- Tor
- I2P
- Freenet
- GNU net
- Zero net
- 96% of the Internet is the dark web
People often think the words “deep web” and “dark web” are the same size. Because of this, they think that the often-quoted fact that “the dark web makes up 96% of the Internet” is true.
Some figures say the deep web is 400–550 times bigger than the web we use. The dark web is a small part of the deep web, making up less than 1%.
- The primary function of the dark web is to facilitate the transaction of illegal commerce between criminals
The dark web is not only used for illegal or unethical behavior, despite what is commonly believed because of how it is depicted in the mainstream media. There is, however, a foundation of truth: approximately fifty percent of onion websites, which is the suffix at the end of a Tor URL that indicates a Tor hidden service, are connected to illegal goods and services in some way.
As a result of the discourse that surrounds the dark web, it is sometimes referred to as the “underbelly of the Internet.” This image depicts the dark web as a landscape reminiscent of the Wild West, swarming with criminals who engage in illegal activity unchecked.
WikiLeaks is notorious for hosting a hidden service on Tor, which allows anonymous tipsters to submit information to the organization. However, even well-known organizations like the New York Times, Facebook, and the CIA operate their covert services using Tor. Even the BBC has begun offering a version of its website that can be accessed through the dark web. This allows the website to remain accessible even in countries with stringent censorship.
- All unlawful stuff is available on the dark web
Even though the dark web is known for being a place where illegal things happen, just because you can get to it doesn’t mean you can get to all of its sites.
If the people who make dark websites want to limit who can see them, they might put a password on them or only let people from a certain list of IP addresses see them.
- To find illegal things, go to the dark web
Many people believe that the dark web is a hub for criminal behavior. Even though it does draw those who sell narcotics or are involved in human trafficking, the dark web is not the only place on the internet where unlawful behavior takes place.
As an illustration, a study published by the Internet Watch Foundation in 2014 detailed how law enforcement discovered 31,266 URLs that contained photos of child pornography. Only 51 of those URLs, equivalent to 0.2 percent, were found to be hosted on the dark web.
