Come To The Dark Side – What Is The ‘Dark Web’?

Recently there has been much talk about the so-called “Dark Web” – whether it is real, what you can do there, how to access it, etc…

But is this place as awesome as its name suggest? Yes and no, depending on your moral standards, that is. Let us elaborate.

The “Dark Web” is kind of an invisible part of the World Wide Web.

It requires special software to access, and once you’ve made your way through to this obscure place, you can access webpages and other “services” via a browser, much like you would operate the normal WWW world.

However, some sites still remain hidden and can only be accessed if you know the exact address of the given page. This is where it gets either dismal or awesome, depending on the way you perceive the modern world.

You can see the “Dark Web” in all its grim glory if you go browsing the special area called “Darknet Markets”. The pages within this bleak place sell illegal products and offer illegal services you wouldn’t normally be able to find online. Think drugs, firearms, assassination contracts, escort services, you name it.

Come to the Dark Side, We have Bitcoins

All these services the Dark Web provides would be impossible without a special means of paying for them, which is why there is a type of cryptocurrency called a Bitcoin. According to iflscience.com, “a recent study by Carnegie Mellon researchers Kyle Soska and Nicolas Christin has calculated that drug sales on the dark net total US$100 million a year.”

The use of Bitcoins is crucial as it makes tracking down dark web services even more difficult. There’s also something called Bitcoin Laundry, a service that enables Bitcoin transactions to be utterly hidden from the eyes of the law.

Are you a man enough to vade through the darth side?