The Deep Web’s Deep Secret-What it is how it helps

Explanation of how the deep web works and how it is used today.  From drugs to Hit men to communication I’ll show you all the inner workings both good and bad of this secret place.  The Deep web has hidden potential in the war against oppression literally. 

            Deep Web, Hidden Web, Dark Web, Under Web, Unsearchable Web is all different names given to a place on the Internet.  The content found here is a wide array of information among other things.  It is a place where one can look up information on governments, converse in complete untraceable privacy, buy illegal substances with untraceable currency, buy identities and stolen credit cards, Hire hit man to kill people, look at illegal pornography, or just find what is hidden in the achieves of websites.  This opens up the debate is a good place or bad place?  Should the apparent downside be overlooked because of the good it provides?  Should there be more funding for FBI to target these cyber criminals or should the deep web be left along all together?  I’ll outline the key points each side is making on this topic and provide my conclusion. 

            First some background information about the deep web.  Today there are over 555 million domain names and within those there are thousands of sub pages that are not recorded. Even those are considered to be in the deep web and the deep web is an estimated 400 to 500 times more vast than the searchable web.  http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/how-the-deep-web-works1.htm Things like searching for articles in databases or archives of newspapers are considered the deep web because a simple search from a search engine wouldn’t find them.  These sites are hidden intentionally just slowly creep into the archives where as there are sites that are intentionally hidden away for a wide range of reasons.  How to access these hidden sites is by installing software called TOR that bounces your signal through proxies so it is hard to track you.  It is encrypted technology so when you are online the governments or whoever cannot track your activity.  Originally it was created by the U.S. Navy to allow for political dissidents and whistleblowers to communicate without fear.   http://www.wired.com/2014/06/the-secret-side-of-the-web-is-home-to-heroes-not-just-crooks/  You use what are called onion sites that can be searched through the onion deep web searcher. 

Now that you are into the darkness I explain what has happened and what you can do there.  On the Dark Net you can accesses to control panels for lights at colleges, or personal files for everything from school enrollment to bank account information.  About 13% of the Deep Web is this and you can see how identity theft thrives here and how these identities and credit cards are sold on the Dark Net. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&u=ghsl&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA360979426 The most popular site was something called the Silk Road, which was a place where you could buy almost anything their anonymously.  You could buy drugs, sex, weapons, hits on people, and whatever else there is in this world with Bit coins.  There are some attached photos from screenshots of the deep web or Dark Net when which is a term used when it involves criminal activity.    However if you ever want to get out actual cash you would have to release where the coins came from.  So essentially the economy of the deep web is based on exchanging of illegal goods a never ending cycle of trading.  Recently the Silk Road was shut down thanks to the F.B.I. capturing of Ross Ulbricht the creator.  There was 3.5 million dollars in Bit coins in the Silk Road.  There is much speculation that he was just one of many of the so-called dread pirates.  The website has been operating for ten years before the shut down.  The criminal networks had to make a new website which was called Black Market Reloaded.  http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/10/02/end-of-the-silk-road-fbi-busts-the-webs-biggest-anonymous-drug-black-market/m   

Bit coins are a type of currency that cannot be tracked like other forms of electronic money.

How could there be any good from these secret websites?  Well there is the NSA who is constantly spying and tracking our activity and I know that only people that are afraid against this have something to hide, but as long as corruption exists the people at the top can track you for trying expose them that is what journalist and whistleblowers need this to stay anonymous from the big businesses coming after them. If you think this does not happen in America it has already happened, Bank of America was caught for illegal finance practices.  The whistle blower got 57 million for exposing them.  Wiki Leaks was also was on the deep web that exposed the NSA for what they are doing.   Without the deep web Edward Snowden’s information may have been taken down right when it was put up.   Deep Web Allows for oppressive governments to be overthrown much like the Arab spring has been doing.  A lot of the communication done was not only on social media, but the deep web once the revolts got serious and people were jailed and killed.  In more extreme governments this could be the only tool for arranging meetings on a wide scale when the Internet is being monitored, restricted, or banned heavily like North Korea.

There are people who take down the criminals on the deep web both from the government and hired cyber masterminds who work to bring them to justice. 

The FBI is having a hard time tackling the bit coin currency and has small resources to bust additional criminal activity on the web.  Now Bit coin has teamed up with the FBI to help eliminate the criminal uses for its coins.  The thing with bit coins is they are anonymous until they are cashed for real currency at a bit coin bank.  Then they are able to track and see what the coins are used to purchase and where.  So even if the black markets operate on these coins they can only be used as a medium of exchange on black market purchases never to be cashed out for real currency only other transactions on the black market.  So the money goes in and can never escape the black market. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&u=ghsl&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA359213762&authCount=1 Time argues the FBI needs more funding, as crime is moving digital anyways and the resources need to be reevaluated.  Increasing educated cyber policemen could help fight the growing cyber crimes.  They only have 200 cyber agents to fight this growing crime base. http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/31/the-deep-web-has-washington-worried/ They talk about taking down the currency the fuels the deep web.  The bit coins were explained how they work and the position the creators had on the issue.  Eventually taxes could be put on bit coins so essentially the government could be making money off illegal goods.

What is to be done then the deep web promotes criminal activity, but without it there is no privacy on the Internet making communication with people with similar interest difficult to hide.  The way I look at it is there is a lot of ways that all this illegal stuff is sold and distributed, but there is only one way to truly anonymously converse with others.  If the government stepped in and increased funding to take down the criminal resources it would hinder the progression of the communication possibilities.  The government is exploring technology to track web browsing even when TOR is installed on your computer.  If there is no anonymous people can’t keep power in check.  What is to stop people from getting to the top by destroying all there enemies?  The old saying goes do not blame the paper that child porn is printed off on it is just technology it is not to be blamed for the criminal activity on it.  Well maybe that’s not an old saying, but you can’t ban all paper just because some of it is used for illegal things.  Just like you should not blame Bit coins or the Deep Web for what happens on it.  Furthermore the stopping of these illegal sites is not going to eradicate it maybe drugs and hits won’t be as easy to find, but there will still be drugs and etc. even if it is shut down.  I am not saying an increase in funding would not be a Fruitvale for taking down some cyber crimes as you can see with the amount of hacks that have been happening.  Having educated cyber police to battle these hackers as cyber crimes will continue to rise.  I just believe that the fight against oppression is far more important than taking down criminals that are going to be around regardless.  It would hard to do both without infringing on the other.