The Dark Web and The Deep Web: The Nether Regions of The Internet

by: COMMANDER ENTERPRISE

There are two types of Internet users they say: the typical user who grazes what seems to be just the mainstream, superficial (read: safe, above-level) surfaces of the huge and vast internet landscape, with none real risks and questionable (or even criminal) content; and those who explore the deeper, hidden nether regions that the public even won’t or actually can’t access, (and best remain so) which leads to secret worlds, hidden information, and seemingly dubious online merchants not for the general public.

Unbeknownst to the uninitiated, what we do see, interact with, and access is just the tip of the iceberg, as clichéd as it may sound. An iceberg tip only displays the topmost part, and just like an illuminatus /secret society structure/conspiracy theory discussion, what appears to the public eye serves its function as a superficial front.

These places are worlds within worlds, and what goes on in secret chambers, closed doors and hidden places of secrets online are only revealed to those who are enlightened and granted access to the Dark Web, through means of secret access keys and hidden doors to these portals.

Entering these worlds is akin to opening metaphysical portals that reach beyond reality (read: the everyday public face of the internet) revealing the gigantic world of the underground internet, and everything that can be fished out and harvested from this deep space, deep ocean online netherworld. Seek and ye shall find…

How to access secret online worlds

It is necessary to point out the difference between the Dark Web, and Deep Web. The Dark Web is the hidden and unreachable nether regions online, open only to those who already have access, through secret online portals and apps.

The Deep Web is the general umbrella term for all places and activity online that are unlisted and cannot be accessed by search engines. Getting to these places that exist on some distant online astral plane is difficult as they don’t show up automatically with most type of online data searches, data mining, and exploration.

One reason for this is due to the type of web page content it carries, such as sites that limit access, don’t allow search engines or caching, password protected sites, enhanced/interactive content, independent, unlinked pages, and all hidden sites that were differently created, coded, and can only be accessed in these worlds through the use of covert apps such as TOR or The Onion Router and I2P.

These are used to not only to enter and interact in these hidden worlds, but also to cover identities and allow the user to roam this underground network free from the prying eyes of the police and all authorities, which is like the main idea (and another main reason) for all this unchecked and unbridled activity.

This very main feature of the dark web has allowed all kinds of underground information, hidden exchange of data, unmonitored buying and selling of otherwise illegal items and services, and we mean all kinds, available in the underground network, and coexisting with the daily normal internet world but layers of reality within and apart.

The bad with the good, and VICE-versa.

It is precisely this side of this hidden world online that was exposed recently, effectively opening the hidden dimension of the Dark Web to the public: the underground forum/site, Silk Road, who for years facilitated underground trades of all kinds (including the illegal and the unknown) was finally stopped and captured by the FBI, with site owner Ross Ulbricht convicted in a New York federal jury for the activities that were allowed and perpetrated by the members of that realm.

Most of these illegal activities were selling drugs online, as well as other black market items, such as passports, credit cards, unlocked smartphones and devices, weapons, email accounts, bounty hunters, special services, even murder for hire, and so on – the sky’s the limit.

If it’s too mainstream and will put the buyer’s reputation on the line, look to the hidden astral plane realm of the Dark Web, and one will find it. With a system much like commercial sellers like Ebay and Amazon, there are ratings and simple systems in place, from ordering, to online payments (mostly through Bitcoin) to discrete delivery.

Everyone who is into it is already involved, or will be involved, and if there’s no other convenient way elsewhere, the internet is the last frontier, and a very reliable one at that. Its evolution and advancement has also furthered man’s other goals, by launching them into hyperdrive, into black hole portals in this online astral plane dimension to do their otherworldy dealings and information exchange. If the Dark Web didn’t exist yet, it would have been necessary to build it, and it will become what it is today just the same.

Equally, the Dark Web isn’t just a hidden realm for all things illegal. Remember, this vast, un-minable, and totally invisible place carries a lot of information, images, multimedia, files, and other forms of otherwise hidden information and secret sites that cannot be found in (the publicly recognisable part of) the ‘net. And it barely scratches the surface.

The Dark Web means different things to different people. It being hidden is just the tip of the iceberg too – and somehow, mixed in with the things other specific people want, are more things that are valuable and useful, and won’t lead to jail time. Much like unchartered deep ocean and deep space frontiers: All these different elements are deep in the underground, and co-exist for better or for worse. It’s how people use what they find here that defines its raison d’etre.