Top 5 Tips to Use Deep Web Safely

Let’s assume that you’re already familiar with the terms ‘deep web’ and ‘dark web’, so we’ll not dwell on the semantics for too long. This article will cover the best practices regarding safety measures you can take when browsing the deep web. So, the deep web – the largest portion of the internet – represents mostly user databases, websites behind paywalls, and password-protected sites. You don’t have to use any special tools/browsers to access the deep web and it’s perfectly legal to do so. The difference between the surface web and the deep web is that these are websites that can’t be indexed by search engines due to technical limitations. A smaller part of the deep web is the dark web, and for this you need not just specialized tools, but a specialized browser as well to be able to access it (namely the Tor browser). Here you will find sites dedicated to whistleblowers, marketplaces that sell drugs, weapons, stole ID’s, pornographyand more. But you can also find even more sinister services, like hitmen, snuff videos, canibals, and hacking services. It’s also the home of many sad standalone pages, personal blogs, and a huge number of offline sites. Potential Risks of Browsing the Deep Web Strictly speaking, it’s not illegal in and of itself to browse the dark web, but it can arouse suspicion with the authorities that heavily monitor the Tor Network, so you want to make sure that your identity and location are not compromised in any way – you don’t want the FBI at your door.Apart from this, seeing how this is the place that assembles all kinds of crooks, it is easily imaginable how one can end up a victim to various fraudsters. We will give you 5 most important tips for staying safe on the dark web, but you can also find some valuable and more in-depth resources on the subject on DarkWebNews, which is a dedicated portal that delivers the latest news from the dark web. 5 Tips to Stay Safe while Browsing the Deep WebTip #1 – In terms of your operating system, the best way to go is probably to use Tails OS. Aptly named, The Amnesic Incognito Live System, it provides the best protection one can find. It’s a pre-configured Linux distribution that comes with all the necessary tools including the TOR browser and a PGP email client, amongst several others. It doesn’t record any logs about the user’s activity, so once you reboot your computer and start Tails again – alltraces of your browsing will be lost. Simply create a bootable USB or DVD and you’re ready to go! Tip #2 – If it’s too complicated for you to create and use Tails, or if it’s not suitable for your situation, you can use just the Tor Browser on whichever operating system you’re using. Tor is a heavily modified version of Mozilla Firefox. It connects to the Tor Network through a series of relays to mask the user’s IP address. But this is not the only appeal of Tor – theURL’s on the dark web are not the same as the URL’s we’re used to. They end in .onion, and only the Tor Browser can open them, so you will need Tor anyways. However, despite the promise of anonymity, even Tor isn’t 100% secure and will fail in the attempt to provide complete safety to its users. It’s known to have certain security issues which the authorities have managed to exploit to their advantage. Tip #3 – Using Tor browser on its own will not guarantee you complete safety on the deep web, noting that probably nothing will. That’s why users advise to disable JavaScript in Tor. Apparently, certain websites can infect your computer with some JavaScriptscripts that can reveal your location. Detailed instructions on how to do this on your own can be found on the official Tor website. Tip #4 –Believe it not, even the above steps won’t result in the best security when browsing the deep web, meaning that there’s a good chance that your connection can still be intercepted and your location tracked down if the other party is serious. To avoid that, use a VPN client. Choose a decent VPN provider, preferably one that allows Bitcoin payments and that doesn’t keep logs of users’ online activities, and whether you wish to use Tor over VPN or VPN over Tor is a matter of your preference. This will significantly increase your safety on the deep web. Tip # 5 – Make sure that you close all other apps on your computer that connect to the internet. This is actually a very important step in securing your privacy online. As described in the Tip #3, some websites can infiltrate your system and if these apps are running, they may collect information you’d probably rather keep private from them. In conclusion, these steps can be of help in securing your online privacy. However, the only bullet-proof thing you can do is to steer clear from any illegal or questionable websites on the deep and dark web.