In this week’s Question of the Week (click to read) email, we answered a customer’s question about his credit card being found on the dark web. We gave a very brief definition of “dark web” but I wanted to expand that definition a bit.
I’m actually going to quote and paraphrase from our October 23, 2018 Question of the Week email, where we also talked about the dark web.
For most computer users, you should not go to the dark web. Period.
https://www.robly.com/archive?id=1e621c402472a07211b409ab2172d506
Now, what is the dark web? The dark web is actually part of the deep web. Neither the dark nor the deep web is indexed with search engines. That means if you do a Google or a Bing search, no dark or deep web pages will show up in the results. Another special feature about the dark web is that it can’t be accessed via normal browsers like Microsoft Edge, Firefox or Google Chrome. Instead, there is specialized software to access the dark web.
What makes the dark web alluring? It is totally encrypted and anonymous. For the record, not everything done on the dark web is illegal but it does have a reputation as a place for hackers and sellers of illicit information.
You might be asking “How does information about a person get on the dark web?” There are multiple ways including hacked websites where user names and passwords are stolen, phishing emails and hacked email accounts. Once the information is obtained, it is often placed on the dark web and sold.
