DarkNet and Hidden Services

Abstract

AbstractThe continuous growth of the Internet on a large scale flourishes technology that heavily impacts the computing world. Cyberspace is already an attractive area on the Internet where technologies are threatened with a wide area of attack vectors, directing the attackers to weaken the systems. We are seamlessly using the Internet and its services to access a large amount of indispensable information, work from home, entertainment, and even online shopping. Internet is currently a central hub for vast information gathered from all around. It is an integral part of our daily lives as if without the Internet, our current activities will become unimaginable. Statista, a renowned database company, recently blogged about the active Internet users being over 4.33 billion people, which confined 56% of the global population. India, China, and the USA are the top countries among others in using the Internet. However, the services Internet is providing are limited and constrained. The information you are accessing is fetching from the normal web, which is easily accessible and known as the “surface web”. The information and the services we browse each day from Google, Yahoo, and Bing are a small percentage of the Internet. Still, below the surface, the Internet is further partitioned into something called “Deep Web” and “DarkNet”. Many experts remarked that surface Internet is comprised of only 4%, and the rest of the large portion is further divided as 90% to Deep Web and 6% to DarkNet. Furthermore, the Deep Web consists of content such as financial records, academic databases, government resources, legal documents, scientific reports, and many more. These cannot be accessed nor found directly using the surface web. Hence, the user will need to use advanced search tools to find such services. In contrast to Deep Web, DarkNet, which is the favorite spot of all, as it is an anonymous network where you can hide your privacy, offers completely hidden services. The DarkNet services include illegal information, drug trafficking, private communication, weapon dealers, hackers, and many more. You need to use special tools and software such as TOR, I2P, or Freenet to access such services. This chapter comprises a brief introduction of the Internet and its services. We also elaborate surface web, Deep Web, and DarkNet and its hidden services. This chapter aims to provide a generalized idea on hidden services of DarkNet and how it operates in manipulating your privacy and confidentiality. Finally, we will summarize with an example of providing a hidden service on the TOR network, along with some good practices for maintaining your anonymity and privacy.KeywordsDarkNetDeep WebHidden serviceTOR