What is the Deep Web and Why Should Internet Users Care?

It’s possible that many of the people who read this don’t—and shouldn’t—care about the dark web. If a user wants to stay on the surface web where it is relatively safe, that’s actually easy to do. I’ll give the definitions first, so if all you want to do is just read those and understand why it’s hard to stray onto the dark web but we use the deep web all the time, then this will make it easy. My hope is that understanding why an innocent user is highly unlikely to find himself on the dark web will make the reader feel safer. If you want a little more information about what’s on the dark web, from someone who hasn’t explored it herself, then do satisfy your curiosity.

What is the Deep Web?

The web is generally stratified into three levels as shown in the graphic. The top two levels are:

https://hackercombat.com/the-best-10-deep-web-search-engines-of-2017/

The Surface Web. The surface web is the portion of the web that is available to be indexed by search engines. It includes platforms large and small, including this blog, and is easily accessible to the user.

Sources indicate that there are currently about 4.49 billion indexed pages on the web. You often see the estimate that as few as 1% or as many as 5% of the pages on the web are actually indexed. While it’s clear that the surface web is, indeed, only the tip of the iceberg, be careful about placing too much faith in the actual statistics. I’ve done enough research to assure myself that the figures I’m giving are directionally correct, but precision is not possible in an environment that is as large and complex as this one. Not to mention that a large part of it is intentionally hidden

To say that the surface web is relatively safe is not to say that there isn’t a lot of nasty stuff on it. It includes adult-only sites (translate that adult porn), hate-filled sites and others including the infamous Ashley Madison site. If you don’t remember that one from the news, it’s a dating site for married adults (!) that was breached in 2015 exposing hundreds of thousands of user records to public (and spousal) scrutiny. These sites all have one thing in common. The visitor knows what they are when she sees them. Just leave.

There are, however, malicious websites that are not evident by their content. Vanderbilt University’s tech blog gives some common signs:

• No SSL certificate (i.e., no “https://” at the beginning of the URL)
• Strange behavior on a legitimate site
• Unwanted downloads
• Unusual URL
• Security tools warnings

I’ll write a bit more about this later, but the best advice is to be sure your security software is kept up to date. It will block most of the offending sites on the surface web.

The Deep Web. The deep web is the part of the internet that’s hidden from search engines. The deep web is huge; perhaps 400 to 500 times the size of the surface web. Again, that's a figure you see often.

The deep web consists of content that is intentionally hidden. That includes things like our social media profiles, employee websites, email--anything that requires a password for access. That means that most of the content on the deep web is innocuous. It's just things we want to keep private.

But if there is nasty stuff on the surface web there is even more, nastier stuff on the dark web. I looked to see if there was a link I could share to give readers as idea, but it was all so gross I have no desire to share it. It is, unfortunately, easily found by searching.

How is the Dark Web Different from the Deep Web?

The Dark Web. The dark web is the portion of the deep web where the bad guys hang out. Sites on

the dark web are encrypted and cannot be accessed by search
engines. They can be recognized by an onion symbol similar to the one in this graphic and/or to .onion in the URL.

A special browser is required  to access the dark web. The Tor browser is the most famous. The browser itself is not dangerous. It was initially funded by the US government and is used by people like whistle blowers to mask their identities. The dark web is however, full of stolen passwords and illegal drugs. It is also said to be full of malware that will follow a visitor back to his normal haunts.

I have scoured the web to make sure these definitions are correct, and they are. What I have found in the process is that many people who, according to their credentials, should know better are careless. Beware!

Should Users Care About the Deep Web and the Dark Web?

We use the deep web all the time, and it is not a problem; it’s where stuff is that we want and need to keep protected. We should care about the dark web, although, since everything is encrypted, it is pretty difficult to stumble onto it. People who are interested in exploring it should listen to a strong warning  about the potential dangers, especially malware, of intentionally venturing onto the dark web.

There's an interesting and useful way to demonstrate what can go on there and still stay safe. This site lets the user look to see if her passwords are for sale on the dark web. The word pwned means to absolutely annihilate, as to destroy an opponent in a video game.

I've searched the site occasionally over the past year or so and see passwords from three sites that were hacked some time ago. I'm not exactly sure how to interpret that, although I have been more careful lately. And yes, I have changed the stolen passwords. It’s a site worth bookmarking, although it may restrict frequent use; I can’t tell for sure.

The Take-Aways

If you stumble onto a site that doesn’t feel right, leave right away and for goodness sake, don’t click anything. But remember that sites that look ok on the surface can be problematic.

I got fooled once by a Dell spoofing site. I was trying to get to Dell support and I kept getting offers for software I didn’t want to buy. I was so naïve that I thought something was wrong with my computer. I took it to Staples where one of the nice tech associates pointed to the URL. It had something before dell in the URL (xxxx.dell.com) and the site had done fancy SEO (search engine optimization) to get it to show up first in Google search. Always look at the URL to see if it looks funny, based on the Vanderbilt criteria above.

And be sure to keep your security software up to date. I just checked mine to be sure. (You should be able to find in in the icons on the bottom right of the screen. If you don’t see it, look in the programs listing.) I checked for updates and found that (1) there were no updates pending and (2) that I have automatic updates on. Be sure yours are on too!

That’s the best single way to stay safe!

Additional Reading
A weird but totally avoidable aspect of the dark web