ABOUT DARK

1. Deep Water Exploration of the Darkest Recesses of the Internet In the collective mind, the Darknet is the seat of the worst criminal activity, where anything can be bought and sold. But the Darknet also offers journalists and activists a field of struggle, on condition of anonymity, for the freedom to inform and the right to the protection of private life. The Darknet covers different concepts and technologies that should be differentiated. I suggest you take a guided tour... To start the tour, it is first of all necessary to agree on a certain number of definitions. What is the Darknet? First of all the Darknet, it is a superimposed network infrastructure layer accessible only by means of specific software and configurations or on authorization, often via non-standard ports and communication protocols. On the Darknet, we find the Dark web: this is the content available on the Darknet. We must then differentiate the deep web from the dark web. The deep web is a part of the World Wide Web, the contents of which are not indexed by standard search engines for various reasons. Finally, Darknet differs from Clearnet, namely unencrypted content that does not depend on Darknet. Anonymity is not very well preserved since most websites identify their visitors by their IP address.

2. What do we find there? You can find just about anything you're looking for. Especially what is illegal? The Darknet is a dangerous place, seat of illicit or underground activities... It is characterized by the presence of online marketplaces where one can buy and sell different types of goods and digital resources in exchange for bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Marketplaces are currently multiplying on Clearnet and Darknet. Cybercriminals tend to frequent these sites which sell just about anything imaginable, including malware, counterfeits, drugs and weapons, DDoS attacks, card numbers, and more stolen credit... Anonymized networks People often mistakenly think that it is overly complicated and technical to gain access to the Darknet. However, in recent years, it has on the contrary become very simple and intuitive. Anonymized networks which are in the form of a software layer allowing applications (internet browser, email client, peer-to-peer software ... etc.) to connect to the net in encrypted form offer documentation that is very provided to novices and there are many forums and tutorials to familiarize yourself with these networks. Some Darknet marketplaces are members-only or only operate by invitation, in order to control who sees and has access to the services they offer. Several options are available to the user to access the Darknet. He has the choice between Tor, The Onion Router, and I2P, for Invisible Internet Project. Each has its advantages and disadvantages; the choice depends on the intentions of the user.

3. The most famous of these is probably Tor, an anonymous internet proxy that directs traffic via a global network made up of thousands of voluntary relays. Tor encapsulates messages in multiple encrypted layers and sends them via a two- way Tor network-wide relay circuit. This proxy also offers a central directory that allows you to manage what you see on the network. New Tor users are offered basic documentation. The approach is so simple that Tor has become very popular with ordinary users in just a few years. The Tor Browser Bundle makes it much easier for the average user to connect to Tor. Over the years, many academic studies have looked at Tor and the project now has very significant funding. The only remaining concern is the reliability of Tor's output nodes. Hackers can create malicious exit nodes or spy on traffic leaving the network. The best use of Tor is therefore that of a proxy to browse the Internet anonymously. I2p is a network layer to communicate anonymously in peer-to-peer, reserved for internal services. Computers equipped with I2P can thus exchange end-to-end encrypted data. I2P uses unidirectional tunnels and encryption layers while Tor tunnels are bidirectional. I2P is not very well known compared to Tor. Few university studies have looked at it, but all users have access to a wealth of documentation. One of the drawbacks of I2P is the limited number of outgoing proxies to the Internet. The best i2P app is peer-to-peer file sharing. It's not always easy to access Darknet marketplaces if you don't know what you're looking for. You will often find lists of hidden services or .onion links on Clearnet sites, such as Reddit and DeepDotWeb. TheHiddenWiki.org is recommended to start looking for hidden services and marketplaces, as well as DNstats.net.

4. DNstats provides up-to-date information on the status of marketplaces and news on new sites online. Among the Darknet marketplaces, there are for example AlphaBay, Valhalla, Dream, Hansa, The Real Deal, DHL or even Outlaw. Some search engines are also useful on the Darknet. The two most popular are Grams, which is inspired by Google, and Torch. These two sites allow you to search for content on marketplaces and other hidden services on the Darknet. There is nothing special or unique about these markets, but they gained popularity after the Silk Roads site shutdown. Certain markets are present on both the Darknet and the Clearnet. Sites like 0day today, hack forums, TorCrds, Hell and others sell items similar to those on Dark Web Links and accept bitcoins. And one can normally find services identical to those of the Darknet on a number of hacking forums such as V3rmillion, Raid Forums, GreySec, RealForums, or even Evilzone. Most sellers accept Bitcoin or other types of cryptocurrency. On many sites, they must pay a form of deposit to be allowed to sell products or services on the site. The value of these down payments is between 0.1 and 1 BTC. Some sites closed to the public require newcomers to be recommended by a member; otherwise they will be denied access to the marketplace. New sites emerge each year, around ten last year. This year LEO Market, TheDetoxMarket and Apple Market are some of the new online marketplaces. Some of these sites do not stay on the Darknet for long; they are often hacked or taken out of service by the competition.