In this free MakeUseOf guide, you will learn everything you need to know about the deep and the dark web, including how to access them, the differences between the deep and the dark web, and why you might want to use the dark web instead of the regular internet.
Disclaimer: If you follow the instructions in this guide, you should be safe while using the dark web. That said, MakeUseOf and I are not responsible for any websites, content, or otherwise you encounter while using the dark web.
Introducing the Deep and Dark Web Guide
Let’s break the guide down:
Lesson 1: What is the deep web, and is it any different from the dark web?
Lesson 2: Why would you access the dark web and is it illegal to do so?
Lesson 3: How to access the dark web securely, including how to install a VPN.
Lesson 4: Your hands-on guide to accessing the dark web using Tor and a look at the alternatives.
Lesson 5: Navigating the dark web, using dark web search engines, and services and sites you should check out.
Lesson 6: Your Deep and Dark Web guide roundup.
Within each lesson, we’ll provide a couple of small tasks for you to complete for the following lesson, plus a few handy links for you to expand your reading—but only if you want to!
What Is the Deep Web?
The deep web comprises all of the “hidden” internet that’s inaccessible using a regular search engine, in a regular browser, to “regular” internet users.
The inaccessible internet isn’t as exciting as it sounds. It includes banking portals and login pages, academic journals and studies, government gateways, tax forms, long-forgotten secure databases, and so on. Anything that Google and other search engines do not index. (Check out these search engines that let you explore the deep web!)
But the deep web is important. It forms a vital part of the internet as we know it, keeping certain forms of data secure from prying eyes. More than that, it is enormous.
According to Dutch researcher Maurice de Kunder, the visible web contains around 5.24 billion web pages, but no one knows the true size of the deep web. Estimates range from around 10 to 500 times bigger than the regular internet. Even at a conservative estimate, it is a staggering volume of data.
The rule of thumb: if you have to log into an account to access a page, the information you are accessing is on the deep web.
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