THE DARK WEB: A GUIDE FOR
BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS
By Dan Patterson
COPYRIGHT ©2019 CBS INTERACTIVE INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
THE DARK WEB: A GUIDE FOR BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS
INTRODUCTION
Hacking is a fact of life for businesses and consumers alike. Often, leaked data surfaces and is sold to
miscreants—hackers, shady government organizations, and other bad actors—on the Dark Web.
The Dark Web—or dark net, backweb, onionweb—is frequently misunderstood. The network is used by
legitimate actors, like law enforcement organizations, cryptologists, and journalists as often as by malefactors
and criminals.
Here’s a look at how the Dark Web works, the content that populates the encrypted internet, and the
encryption tools needed to safely navigate the network.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• What is the Dark Web? Much like the internet—or clearnet—that billions of people access every day
from mobile and desktop devices, the Dark Web is a network of websites, forums, and communication
tools like email. What differentiates the Dark Web from the clearnet is that users are required to run a suite
of security tools that help anonymize web traffic. The Dark Web is used for both nefarious and reputable
purposes. Criminals exploit the network’s anonymity to sell guns, drugs, and humans, while organizations
like the UN and Facebook use encryption to protect dissidents in oppressive countries.
• Why does the Dark Web matter? The Dark Web matters for two significant reasons: ideology and
practicality. Where encryption exists, there also exists a large market of users who want to
remain anonymous.
• Who does the Dark Web affect? The Dark Web affects every internet user. If your data was leaked as part
of a government or corporate hack, it’s for sale on the Dark Web.
• How is the Dark Web accessed? The Dark Web is most commonly accessed using the Tor security suite
and the Tails flash-bootable operating system.
WHAT IS THE DARK WEB?
The Dark Web is a network of websites and servers that use encryption to obscure traffic. Dark Web sites
require the .onion top-level domain, use non-memorable URL strings, and can be accessed only by using the
open source, security-focused Tor browser. Because it’s portable and disposable, Tails, a Linux-based operating
system that boots from a flash drive, adds a layer of security to Deep Web activity.
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THE DARK WEB: A GUIDE FOR BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS
Because the tools required to access Dark Web sites help protect user—and server—anonymity, in the past
decade the Dark Web has become a magnet for criminal activity. The Silk Road, an eBay-like market for drugs
and weapons, famously helped establish the market for peer-to-peer anonymous criminal commerce. The
site grabbed mainstream headlines in 2013 when it was taken down by the FBI. In its place rose a number of
copycat markets. The negative press, coupled with YouTube horror stories, glued the Dark Web’s reputation to
illicit behavior. Today, the Dark Web markets sell drugs, weapons, malicious software, and piles of consumer
and sensitive corporate data.
But the Dark Web is not all bad news. ProPublica, a well-respected investigative news organization, has a
Dark Web site to help the company securely communicate with sources. The United Nations law enforcement
department, the Office on Drugs and Crime, monitors the Dark Web and shares data with the public and
global police organizations. Even Facebook, the world’s largest social network, has a Dark Web site relied on by
more than one million users per month.
• What is the clearnet? Clearnet sites are sites that track user data, drop cookies, and share IP data.
Examples of the clearnet are corporate intranet pages, secure bank pages, private social media accounts, and
any site that does not use SSL.
• What is the deep web? The Dark Web and the deep web are often confused with one another. The deep
web is a term applied to millions of pages that are not accessible to the public and not indexable by search
engines like Google and Bing. Examples of deep web sites are corporate intranet pages and wikis, secure
bank pages, and private social media accounts.
• Are encrypted email technologies like PGP part of the Dark Web? Not really, but PGP in particular is
frequently used to obfuscate communication. PGP email tools and encrypted webmail services allow Dark
Web site operators and users to communicate anonymously.
• How are Bitcoin and the Dark Web related? Bitcoin is not inherently anonymous, but scrambling the
origin of a Bitcoin is a relatively nominal task. For this reason the virtual currency is the most popular
currency used on the Dark Web and can enable criminal activity.
• What is .onion? To denote that the domain points to an encrypted site, Dark Web URLs end with the
.onion suffix and are inaccessible to traditional browsers that lack proper security plugins.
• How big is the Dark Web? Not very big. The total population of Dark Web sites numbers only in the
hundreds of thousands. Dark Web sites frequently disappear or are discovered and yanked from servers for
violating local law. Security experts estimate that at any given moment there are between 10,000 and 100,000
active sites.
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THE DARK WEB: A GUIDE FOR BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS
Additional resources
• How the Dark Web works (ZDNet)
• 10 things you didn’t know about the Dark Web (ZDNet)
• This dark web market is dedicated to compromising your emails (ZDNet)
• Dark Web 101: Your guide to the badlands of the internet (CNET)
• The United Nations: “We’re all facing the same global cyber-threat” (TechRepublic)
• Four misleading myths about the Dark Web (TechRepublic)
• The light side of the Dark Web (TechRepublic)
• IBM Security takes us on a tour of the Dark Web (TechRepublic)
WHY DOES THE DARK WEB MATTER?
Though the name sounds ominous, the Dark Web did not hatch from some evil hacker lab. The Dark Web is
simply a network of websites that require basic encryption technologies to be enabled before users can load
content. These are the same technologies that protect passwords when users log on to bank portals and sites
like Gmail and Facebook.
For this reason, the Dark Web is used by proponents of privacy and encryption. Organizations as diverse as
the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Facebook, the US State Department, and the United Nations all argue
vociferously that encryption is a fundamental human right.
The Dark Web is practical. The anonymity and security provided by the encrypted internet means the Dark
Web is a haven for criminals, law enforcement agencies, freedom fighters, journalists, neo-capitalists, and
curiosity seekers. The Dark Web is unlikely to vanish any time soon.
Additional resources
• Campaign 2018: How the dark web could hurt the midterm elections (CNET)
• Starting at $40, hackers can attack your business with services bought on the dark web (TechRepublic)
• Stolen data on the dark web is cheaper than you might think (ZDNet)
• Cryptocurrency theft malware is now an economy worth millions (ZDNet)
• A hacker is advertising millions of stolen health records on the dark web (ZDNet)
• The Dark Web: How much is your bank account worth? (ZDNet)
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THE DARK WEB: A GUIDE FOR BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS
• Video: Here’s why Facebook is buying passwords from the dark web (ZDNet)
• How hackers steal EHR data and sell it on the Dark Web (TechRepublic)
• How the cyber insurance industry detects the next big attacks (TechRepublic)
WHO DOES THE DARK WEB AFFECT?
Using the clearnet generates data. Consumers generate data every time they create a social media account, send
a webmail message, or upload a photo from a smartphone. Governments and large corporations generate and
oversee billions of records and sensitive files. This makes governments and companies theft targets, and today,
data breaches are common.
Consumers and companies need to be aware that sensitive records are bought and sold routinely in anonymous
markets. If you’ve been part of a corporate or government hack, your data is on the Dark Web.
The Dark Web is also a small haven for terrorists and organized crime. Most Dark Web-focused security firms,
however, caution against exaggerating the risks and size of the encrypted internet. Global law enforcement is
aware of, operates on, and works to combat illicit Dark Web activity.
Additional resources
• Access data for 70% of top US and EU websites is being sold on dark web (TechRepublic)
• Hackers peddle thousands of air miles on the Dark Web for pocket money (ZDNet)
• Software code signing certificates worth more than guns on the Dark Web (ZDNet)
• Dark web vendors are selling remote access to corporate PCs for as little as $3 (ZDNet)
• Publicity surrounding data sold on the dark web isn’t always accurate (TechRepublic)
• Programmer tried to sell cyberweapon on dark web for $50M: Reminder to secure employees
(TechRepublic)
• From the dark web to the “open” web: What happens to stolen data (TechRepublic)
• The price of your identity in the Dark Web? No more than a dollar (ZDNet)
HOW IS THE DARK WEB ACCESSED?
The best way to access the Dark Web is with Tor. An acronym for the onion router, Tor is an open source
protocol and suite of plugins built on top of Mozilla’s Firefox web browser. Tor helps anonymize the source
and destination of web traffic by passing the machine’s IP address through a network of similarly encrypted
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COPYRIGHT ©2019 CBS INTERACTIVE INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
THE DARK WEB: A GUIDE FOR BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS
IP addresses. The result is that web browsing slows down a bit as each request is bounced around the world,
obfuscating user traffic.
For additional security, power users and experts also use anonymity-protecting operating systems like Tails.
Tails is a Linux distribution that specializes in security and convenience. The operating system takes about 20
minutes to install on a flash drive and can be booted from the USB drive on nearly any machine in the world.
Tails comes preconfigured with Tor and offers dozens of other security features.
There is no guarantee of privacy on the Dark Web. Tor recently warned users not to expect complete
end-to-end privacy while using the network.
Additional resources
• How to safely access and navigate the Dark Web (TechRepublic)
• How to access Tor, even when your country says you can’t (ZDNet)
• 10 Dark Web warning signs that your organization has been breached (TechRepublic)
• Here’s what happens during a social engineering cyber-attack (TechRepublic)
• Gallery: The top zero day Dark Web markets (TechRepublic)
• Gallery: The top 10 Dark Web search engines (TechRepublic)
IMPORTANT CAVEATS
Both novices and experts should exercise care and caution when visiting the Dark Web. TechRepublic does not
condone illegal activity or unethical activity. Offensive material can sometimes be just a click away. Browse at
your own risk. Never break the law. Use the Dark Web safely and for legal purposes only.
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Cover image: iStock/hunthomas
