Would you know how to access the dark web?

[NoFriendsNoEnemies]

Just that.

Whenever someone appears to be convicted of child abuse, accessing violent porn etc they always seem to trot out the cliche that they came across the images by mistake or that they were downloaded to them when they were downloading something else.

And for some obscure reason they always have their band of loyal supporters who believe them.

But quite apart from the fact that it’s obviously lies, I was always under the impression that to access that kind of material you had to visit the dark web, and so accessing that kind of thing in error is in fact not possible.

But how many people would actually know how to access the dark web? And if they wouldn’t how could anyone believe that these kinds of things could be stumbled upon in error?

Would you know how to access the dark web? Not for nefarious purposes obviously, but just in general. If you wanted to access it, would you know how?

I'd be rubbish on the dark web as I haven;t even heard of the TOR browser.

Not the first clue but since I would have no desire my ignorance in this area doesn't worry ne in the least

I suspect that you’re right in as much as it’s not accidental. I also suspect others who are into whatever sick shit they want to look at/be involved in give them tips on how to access it. It should all be heavily monitored and it probably is.

I’ve read into this a year or so ago because to fascinated me how something like the dark web can exist. You can google things about it to find out without finding anything ‘dodgy’, lots of forums say about peoples experiences who have the same interests
Obviously download TOR as people said. But to access specific content apparently you need to have a specific URL as we would understand it. Also a lot of content including child porn, animal abuse, drugs, hit men etc. you need an invitation to. You don’t just ‘click on something’. It isn’t laid out like google or like the web in how we understand it. It’s completely different. Very weird. That’s from my memory of reading about it last year or so. Feel free to correct me anyone who knows!

It's actually scarily easy to access.. there are plenty of articles and videos very easily available though Google that you only need to make a very basic search for and you can get step by step instructions (not saying that anybody SHOULD but it can easily be done sadly) but in the instance your describing OP then no it certainly isn't something one does by mistake or without a certain amount of basic knowledge of how to do so!

It should all be heavily monitored and it probably is.

It's virtually impossible to monitor, that's the point of it!

It is inherent in TOR that no one has any (traceable) IP address. And many transactions are done using military-grade encryption (PGP) (rather than the light-hearted type that law-enforcement agencies can open quicker than it takes you to type the password).

Going incognito on your iPhone is the dark web I suppose

@youdoyoutoday

Nope!

I did once read a fiction detective novel where to gain indecent images you had to go to a normal web page and click on a specific part of an image, the left eye in this case, and there was a link there to dark sites. The normal website owner might not know that this has been done. This was an older book say 90s so tech has definitely moved on since then.

I guess you could accidentally do that but any normal person would report it rather than going further and then claiming innocence.

That would not generally be possible - you can’t link from the open web to the dark web that easily.

No idea… I always thought it was just made up to be used in the movies… showing my ignorance 😬

A few years ago my parents were in a country where there was a coup, my mother who is in her 80s and struggles to send a text message, managed to access a VPN and get onto the dark web as they needed to know what was happening. I can only conclude it is really easy.

Also a girl I work with told me all about it (she is in cubersecurity) and how if a news story is not published because of a legal injunction you can access it really easily, I found this pretty interesting.

It is inherent in TOR that no one has any (traceable) IP address. And many transactions are done using military-grade encryption (PGP) (rather than the light-hearted type that law-enforcement agencies can open quicker than it takes you to type the password).

Personally I think the security agencies have infiltrated it - technically and operationally - a long time ago.

It's a very good, if not golden rule that if you didn't make it, you can't trust it. And since that starts with the actual silicon things run on, and works up, you can't trust anything.

Once you know you can't trust it, you mitigate.

Every so often there's a story about dim criminals who (quite weirdly) trusted other criminals with their liberty

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EncroChat

is a good start.

@Hmm1234

Going incognito on your iPhone is the dark web I suppose

Only if you switch it over to white-on-black screen and wear a balaclava.

@WhenDovesFly

I've no idea how to access it, but am I the only one who stupidly imagines that the 'dark web' is like a negative of the ordinary web, ie, all black pages with white or other coloured writing on them haha!

Ha I totally have this image!

Also a girl I work with told me all about it (she is in cybersecurity) and how if a news story is not published because of a legal injunction you can access it really easily,

You don't need the dark web for that ...

No but i think there are chat rooms that are easily accessible and that's where they find the images ajd people who supply

But I don't believe people join chat rooms by accident

@DGRossetti

It is inherent in TOR that no one has any (traceable) IP address. And many transactions are done using military-grade encryption (PGP) (rather than the light-hearted type that law-enforcement agencies can open quicker than it takes you to type the password).

Personally I think the security agencies have infiltrated it - technically and operationally - a long time ago.

It's a very good, if not golden rule that if you didn't make it, you can't trust it. And since that starts with the actual silicon things run on, and works up, you can't trust anything.

Once you know you can't trust it, you mitigate.

Every so often there's a story about dim criminals who (quite weirdly) trusted other criminals with their liberty

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EncroChat

is a good start.

Agreed, I would not trust these sorts of shady encryption services. But PGP has been around since 1991, is open source, and had been widely written about and analysed. No one profits by it (directly) and it is not used only for crime. Since Phil Zimmerman invented it there have been constant rumours that it's been penetrated by US security services, but there's no evidence to suggest that, and the fact that (I think?) it's still banned by ITAR in the US and Canada suggests that The Feds Don't Like It!

No I don't. But I do find it interesting in way that's there's an actual "dark web". It also scares me. Even when I've googled about it and what it was when I first found out about it I was petrified of clicking on a link and me ending up on the dark side of stuff, I was so paranoid 😂

@Cas112

You dont just come across the dark web accidently, you have to have a certain browser/search engine installed on to your computer/laptop

When I first heard about it and googled I literally thought I was going to click on something that would send me to the dark web 🤣 feel stupid now when I think about it.

I couldn't access the dark without having to google exactly how to do it (I think?)

I've come across some dodgy ads/links, while streaming via sites like 123movies, and porn sites in general are full of questionable content, where you can't be sure those featuring are over 18 or not, there's the same problems on reddit, Facebook, social media in general, though most of those do a least have a report feature. That's for teens though, that could just about pass as older (if they are younger).

For pre teens or younger, or the really nasty graphic content, I think you'd have to seek it out, you don’t stumble across stuff like that, by accident? E.g I've never come across bestiallity content either, by accident.

I know 4chan has some really nasty stuff in general, which is why I don't go there! There's a lot of child exploitation images on fb etc, but there are ways to find, and report to the site or police. I knew of a group that would look for anime pages, which would lead them to lolita groups, and so on, until they found real pictures/Fb suggested more and more related inappropriate content. It's not the sort of thing you generally stumble across by accident.

Not a clue

I didn't mean to repeat myself at the end there

No but I'm not very technical I have enough trouble trying to book an online blood test

Yes. It’s not difficult!

absolutely no idea and have no desire to find out (though i'm sure my ex husband could give you a tutorial!)

Honestly i didnt even know there was one until a few years back.

It's a bit like getting caught cheating and saying it was an accident - just tripped, clothes spontaneously flew off and fell naked into bed!?!? Well unless you were already searching for questionable content it doesnt magically appear while browsing ebay! It also doesnt selectively download the bits you like the most. You cant trip and fall into the dark web anymore than you can trip onto another naked human without it meaning anything. As they say - not smoke without fire.

No clue.