The world is flourishing with internet being an indispensable part of every human. The internet has moved way too far from its conceptual level. Now it reaches every household and every device that human control. The internet that we speak of is the Clearnet. An understanding of what Clearnet is will give users a stunning outlook of the whole internet. The internet that we perceive is just a part of the whole digital network. This is the Clearnet. Then comes the deep web and finally the dark web. Deep web is just a collection of Clearnet links in a hidden mode. Access is provided for users with a login name and password. The links are not traceable for Google bots or search engine crawlers. Then comes the dark web. The dark web is that part of the internet which is the farthest level which a user can reach. It consists of illegal marketplaces, goods that are forbidden in the Clearnet and other illegal services. Dark web links take users to dark web services. However, a clear understanding of TOR is essential before accessing dark web.
TOR stands for the Onion Router. It was a project initially developed to secretly pass information for the US Naval Research Lab. However, the project was well received and it became an important parallel mechanism to evade hawk eyes of the internet. The main aim of routing through networks as is designed in TOR was to respect the user’s privacy. This is done by maintaining a panel of servers throughout the world. TOR relies on the sole principle of decentralized routing. It has thus gained the spirit of many computer enthusiasts. Decentralized networking is achieved with the help of relay nodes, where every user acts as a node and there are centrally located servers to aid to the process. This helps users to stay anonymous since eavesdropping mechanisms can only trace the exit node and not the relayed user.
Onion links are dark web links that allow users to gain access to dark web services. It is a hidden service. This doesn’t mean that for every action the user commits, there is cent percent privacy. What you do on the dark web is solely your responsibility. While adding a layer of security in the form of VPN does help to an extent, not all actions are coverable. This has been attested by the latest crackdowns on many infamous dark web links by federal agencies. Onion links are found in forums and other sharing portals. They are not easy to remember like Clearnet web links. Usually, Onion links are a mix of alphabets and numerals and ends with an. onion extension. Specific search engines programmed to parse onion links are used to visit dark web pages. Using a gateway in between almost always gives up the chance of hiding ones IP since gateways fingerprint browser data. This can be used to expose the real user. …...more
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