Deep, Dark Web
Deep Web became some sort of a Bogeyman for the modern netizens.
What exactly is Deep Web? Well, Deep Web is:
Since it seems to us that we are untouchable on the web in both physical and legal terms, an additional vision in the form of such an anonymous playground is very tempting.
But let's start from the beginning, shall we?
We can confidently link the beginning of Deep Web with ARPANET, which was an early packet-switching network and the first network to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. We can call both those technologies can be called the grandmothers of the Internet as we know it.
The 1980 were the time when normal citizens still could only dream about Internet access. Only within this decade, personal computers and modems have become so affordable that in the next decade, the World Wide Web became mainstream.
The most important date for the history of Deep Web is 2002 when US government realised to the public The Onion Router aka TOR.
What is TOR? Well, TOR is:
"Tor is free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication.(...)Tor directs Internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer overlay network consisting of more than seven thousand relays to conceal a user's location and usage from anyone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis."
When we add the birth of Bitcoin, the same year, we could say that that was the perfect storm necessary for Deep Web to bloom.
So what's Dark Web?
Dark Web is this section of Deep Web where it's rumored the worst of the worst is happening.
Drugs? Guns? That weird porn you've only heard of but never dared to google? Human trafficking?
You name it.
All your black hearts desire.
You may ask: "Is it true?"
Yes.
In 2013 FBI with help from the IRS arrested Ross Ulbricht, better known as "Dread Pirate Roberts".
Ulbricht was the founder of Silk Road which was an anonymous marketplace known mostly for selling drugs, guns and illegal porn. Allegedly there were also offers for assassinations but there were never any evidence whether those were conducted in real life.
Sources:
- https://www.technadu.com/dark-web-history/52017/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/deepweb/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_web
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oew7NlA7ZY0
- https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=dark%20web%20mystery%20box
What exactly is Deep Web? Well, Deep Web is:
"The deep web, invisible web, or hidden web are parts of the World Wide Web whose contents are not indexed by standard web search-engines. The opposite term to the deep web is the "surface web", which is accessible to anyone/everyone using the Internet. Computer-scientist Michael K. Bergman is credited with coining the term deep web in 2001 as a search-indexing term. The content of the deep web is hidden behind HTTP forms and includes many very common uses such as web mail, online banking, private or otherwise restricted access social-media pages and profiles, some web forums that require registration for viewing content, and services that users must pay for, and which are protected by paywalls, such as video on demand and some online magazines and newspapers."
Since it seems to us that we are untouchable on the web in both physical and legal terms, an additional vision in the form of such an anonymous playground is very tempting.
But let's start from the beginning, shall we?
We can confidently link the beginning of Deep Web with ARPANET, which was an early packet-switching network and the first network to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. We can call both those technologies can be called the grandmothers of the Internet as we know it.
The 1980 were the time when normal citizens still could only dream about Internet access. Only within this decade, personal computers and modems have become so affordable that in the next decade, the World Wide Web became mainstream.
The most important date for the history of Deep Web is 2002 when US government realised to the public The Onion Router aka TOR.
What is TOR? Well, TOR is:
"Tor is free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication.(...)Tor directs Internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer overlay network consisting of more than seven thousand relays to conceal a user's location and usage from anyone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis."
So what's Dark Web?
Dark Web is this section of Deep Web where it's rumored the worst of the worst is happening.
Drugs? Guns? That weird porn you've only heard of but never dared to google? Human trafficking?
You name it.
All your black hearts desire.
You may ask: "Is it true?"
Yes.
In 2013 FBI with help from the IRS arrested Ross Ulbricht, better known as "Dread Pirate Roberts".
Ulbricht was the founder of Silk Road which was an anonymous marketplace known mostly for selling drugs, guns and illegal porn. Allegedly there were also offers for assassinations but there were never any evidence whether those were conducted in real life.
The last version of Silk Road was shut down in 2017.
Those sensational news led to a forming of an new challenge. And I'm talking about Dark Web Mystery Boxes.
According to Google Trends this phrase gained traction around July 2018.
The name is almost self-explanatory; people "order" boxes with :unknown content" from "Dark Web".
I put these phrases in quotation marks because the trend itself arose around the pretext of a YouTube challenge and it's execution remained on the level scripted skits. Skits almost brushing against absurdity level straight from the episodes of Mothy Python's Flying Circus, where youtubers feigning fear and shock, open boxes filled with random things they've picked up earlier, feeding into that narrative that Deep Web is filled with weirdos who will send you poop in a box if you pay them.
Those sensational news led to a forming of an new challenge. And I'm talking about Dark Web Mystery Boxes.
According to Google Trends this phrase gained traction around July 2018.
The name is almost self-explanatory; people "order" boxes with :unknown content" from "Dark Web".
I put these phrases in quotation marks because the trend itself arose around the pretext of a YouTube challenge and it's execution remained on the level scripted skits. Skits almost brushing against absurdity level straight from the episodes of Mothy Python's Flying Circus, where youtubers feigning fear and shock, open boxes filled with random things they've picked up earlier, feeding into that narrative that Deep Web is filled with weirdos who will send you poop in a box if you pay them.
I'll leave you with that and with a few articles in sources.
Take care!
Yours truly
Annie Wood
Sources:
- https://www.technadu.com/dark-web-history/52017/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/deepweb/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_web
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oew7NlA7ZY0
- https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=dark%20web%20mystery%20box
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