The NET Reaper
Welcome to the Deep Web:
An Abyss and Hidden Demesne
T
he Deep Web:
An Abyss and Hidden Demesne
(By
Pablo
Albarracín and Christopher Holloway
AMERICAECONOMIA)
SANTIAGO - "The visible web is the
tip of the iceberg," says Anand
Rajaraman, co-founder of Kosmix, a
search engine for the Deep Web
(DW).
One of Kosmix’ investors is none
other than Jeff Bezos, CEO of
Amazon.
The
iceberg
sounds
daunting, but Rajaraman seems to
know what he's talking about. How is
it possible that everything we know
about the Internet is only a tiny
portion of it?
The Deep Web is the invisible part of
the Internet. To put it in simpler
terms, it is the part of the web that
cannot be indexed by search engines,
a place where Google does not go: a
"dark" web with limited access.
"The DW is made up of large
amounts of information that has
been posted online and that for
technical reasons has not been
catalogued or updated by search
engines," says Alfonso A. Kejaya
Muñoz, Security Researcher at
McAfee Chile. Studies have shown
that the Deep Web represents 90% of
the Internet.
For those who started using the
Internet in its early days, before
search engines or web portals even
existed, navigating the Deep Web is
like a blast from the past. It is hard
to find what you are looking for, you
need more than a passing knowledge
of computer science, and you will
have to write down the exact
addresses of the sites you manage to
find, and stock them in your
bookmarks, because it is not easy to
remember pages with URLs like
SdddEEDOHIIDdddgmomiunw.oni
on (the usual format in this
territory).
"The Deep Web began in 1994 and
was known as the 'Hidden Web.' It
was renamed ‘Deep Web’ in 2001,"
says Kejaya Muñoz. "However, some
people believe that the origin of the
Deep Web goes back to the 1990s,
with the creation of 'Onion Routing'
by the United States Naval Research
Laboratory, which was the first step
toward the Tor Project.”
Tor (short for The Onion Router) is
the main portal to the Deep Web. It
encrypts the user's information, in
layers like an onion's, and sends it to
a wide network of volunteer servers
all over the world. This technique
makes it almost impossible to track
users or their information.
Offering anonymity and freedom, the
Deep Web has transformed over the
years
into
a
deep,
almost
inhospitable,
little-explored
information repository that can host
anything from the most innocent
content to the most ruthless and
unthinkable. Within the Deep Web
are private intranets protected with
passwords, as well as documents in
formats that cannot be indexed,
encyclopedias, dictionaries, journals,
etc. But that is not all.
A dark abyss
Satnam
Narang,
Manager
of
Symantec Security Response, says
that because the Deep Web is hidden
from view, it is an especially
attractive place for shady activities.
Many cybercriminals gather in places
like private forums with restricted
access.
Many users are already familiar with
the Internet's dark side: how to
download music illegally, where to
see the latest movies for free, or how
to order prescription drugs for a little
extra money. But the Deep Web goes
farther.
Almost
unimaginably
farther.
Child pornography, arms trafficking,
drugs, hired assassins, prostitutes,
terrorism, etc., all make the Deep
Web the largest black market ever to
exist.
"On the Deep Web you can find sites
that sell stolen credit cards, teams
that will clone credit cards through
ATMs, people selling cocaine, and
more," says Dmitry Bestuzhev,
director of Kaspersky Lab's team of
analysts.
Of course, not all uses of the Deep
Web sites are "evil." It has also been
very helpful to citizens who find their
personal liberties threatened, or who
are being watched by government
agencies. WikiLeaks is an example of
one of the uses of the Deep Web. In
the beginning, and for a long time,
the WikiLeaks site operated in the
Deep Web, before it went public.
Even today, if someone wants to
blow the whistle or upload
information to WikiLeaks, it is
possible to publish it on the Deep
Web.
Another example is the group
Anonymous, which has used Tor to
organize massive attacks on all kinds
of organizations. It uses the Deep
Web not only for direct actions but
also to organize itself.
Naturally, it did not take long before
this kind of network attracted the
attention of the security agencies of
various governments. How could
they let organizations operate freely,
without
being
hindered
by
censorship?
One of the most obvious examples is
Silk Road, a secret web for buying
and selling all kinds of drugs. It is
estimated that Silk Road makes more
than $22 million a year, and police
agencies worldwide are scrambling to
come up with strategies to stop the
online traffic.
Recently, the Australian Federal
Police and the Australian Customs
and Border Protection Service
started a joint operation to intercept
transactions on Silk Road. Since
September 5, detectives have
intercepted
over
30
packets
containing approximately 0.5kg of
cannabis, around 200g of synthetic
cannabis,
around
5g
of
methylamphetamine, 1g of cocaine,
around 400 tabs of LSD and 30
ecstasy tablets, the agency told the
Border Mail newspaper. In April, the
U.S. DEA was also reported to have
taken action against drug trafficking
on the Deep Web.
The problem is that the transactions
can be intercepted, but dismantling
the network or tracking the users is
almost impossible.
There have already been attempts to
regulate the Deep Web and Tor.
Recently the government of Ethiopia
said it has installed security systems
that block access to Tor in Ethiopia,
to avoid illegal activity and Skype
connections, which are regulated
there. The effectiveness of that
technology is not yet known.
Last year, amid the maelstrom of
protests and publicity around the
proposed SOPA bill (Stop Online
Piracy Act), one section of the bill
went largely unnoticed: It could
make it illegal to distribute Tor and
other software that can "circumvent"
attempts by the U.S. government to
block pirate Web site -- something
that has Tor users quite worried.
But government and police concern
goes beyond trying to destroy or
restrict these networks. According to
Wired, the U.S. National Security
Agency (NSA) has plans to use them
for cyber espionage. “The deep web
contains
government
reports,
databases, and other sources of
information of high value to the
Department of Defense and the
intelligence community,” said a 2010
Defense Science Board report.
Alternative tools are needed to find
and index data in the deep web …
Stealing the classified secrets of a
potential adversary is where the
[intelligence] community is most
comfortable.”
Read the article in the original
language.
Photo by - Canosa a 5 stelle
Deep web: Drugs,
guns, assassins, jet
planes all for sale on
vast anonymous
network
In some corners there are training
manuals on how to firebomb and
napalm people. There is even a site
dedicated to waging holy war against
the West and hitmen give
competitive prices for their services.
22 Sep 2012 00:00
Experts say the deep web is 100 or
200 times larger than the internet
most users access through browsers
like Firefox and Chrome which just
scrape the surface of the internet.
Experts say it is 100 or 200 times
larger than the internet most users
access
AT first glance it looks a lot like
eBay. But this is no ordinary
website.
For sale is a staggering array of
illegal goods being traded openly
online – everything from child
pornography or Class-A drugs, to
guns and British passports.
All this is a few clicks away on the
deep web, a vast anonymous network
hidden from normal web users.
And it is all totally untraceable.
Ian
Walden,
Professor
of
Information and Communications
Law, said: “The deep web allows
people to communicate without
detection.
“There is no way of eradicating it
completely from the internet, it is
simply too big.”
There are fears that terrorists are
communicating and plotting on the
deep web, beyond the reach of
security services. All that is needed to
operate is special software allowing
you to connect with what lies
beneath, in this shadowy online
world.
The software masks your internet
identity, encrypting your data and
bouncing you through a myriad of
worldwide
Internet
Protocol
addresses. Instead of PayPal or
credit cards, untraceable Bitcoins, a
digital currency unit, is used.
enable you to travel to any
country and build a new
identity.
UK driving licences are available
from another forger. The site
even has an armour plated Land
Rover for sale priced £4,245.44,
and a jet. An advert for it reads:
“The former Ministry of Defence
4x4 offers high protection at
very close range – ideal for use in
high-risk situations.”
Jet: Buy a Gulfstream
Reuters
Drug deals: Heroin is for sale
One of the most popular deep web
sites sells every drug imaginable for
just a few pounds, delivered to your
door. Half a gram of heroin is 6.75
Bitcoins, just £3.85.
Cocaine, ecstasy, MDMA
ketamine are all available.
and
As on eBay, users can rate suppliers.
One shopper who bought heroin said:
“Great seller, shipped all the way to
Australia no problem.” Another
section on the site sells the
equipment needed to manufacture
crystal meth and ecstasy.
Another sells illegal hardcore porn.
British passports, too, are up for sale
for £6,000 on a site that boasts it will
The Gulfstream jet is competitively
priced at £124,973. “Why would you
need armour?” is the boast
underneath. But there are even
darker corners where monsters from
the deep net are lurking.
One site advertises hitmen with
prices ranging from £12,000 to
£129,000 to kill anyone – including
police officers.
Another easily available piece of
software opens up the darkest
reaches of the deep web.
It has been downloaded two million
times and not only hides the user’s
identification but also the fact that
you are using it at all. On one basic
noticeboard, page after page of sites
are advertised which give animal
rights activists – and any others who
fancy it – a step- by-step guide to
making everything from home-made
napalm
to
metaldestroying
incendiary explosives.
The site does stress, however, that
Animal Liberation Front members
should ensure that no humans or any
other creatures should be hurt.
It says: “Projects that have taken
weeks to plan have been cancelled
mid-execution when someone’s life
has possibly been endangered.”
Another site gives a guide to Muslims
wanting to carry out jihad against
the West. The bulletin board is also
littered with links to sites that
contain child pornography and
advertise that they contain horrific
scenes of child abuse.
But the deep web, especially the
software required, can have a
positive side in battles against
totalitarian regimes. Activists and
campaigners in countries from Syria
to China can get their messages out
without state security monitoring
their activities and then arresting
them.
Many of the videos shot during the
Syrian revolution were first posted on
the deep web before being transferred
to YouTube.
their armoury. But organisations like
Internet Watch are doing good work
in combating sites, especially those
involving child pornography.”
Professor Walden said the deep web
had proved vital in the Arab Spring
uprising, allowing dissidents to unite
and avoid detection.
Internet safety expert John Carr said
a major concern was that the deep
web gave terrorists and criminals
complete anonymity.
He said: “This has been helpful in
countries where there is repression as
it allows the dissemination of ideas
without the state punishing people.”
He said: “It allows people to disguise
completely what they are doing and
it is very, very difficult for law
enforcement agencies to track users.
But the activism is just one tiny
island in this sinister ocean.
“We have to look to a time when
authentication of users is at the heart
of the internet.”
Professor Walden added: “It is also a
place for organised criminals to
operate and communicate with each
other. It has become a useful tool in
Royal Mail spokesman Nick Martens
said that it monitored and screened
packages coming into the country for
drugs and other illegal goods.
He said: “Royal Mail has a range of
measures in place to identify illegal
items being sent through the postal
system and works closely with the
police and other authorities to
prevent
such
activities
from
happening.”
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