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?

Yes. I work in IT and have done some freelance testing / dev work as an 'ethical hacker'.

If you don't know how to get to the dark web, don't start trying to find a way. It is not nice.

Yup because it's the job of one of my household

@TheLightSideOfTheMoon

Yes, DS showed me the dark web once.

Spoiler alert: It’s REALLY boring.

Honestly.

Why did he have it? Why do people have it? (Other than porn)

Not a clue.

@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!

I'm with you, there! In the sillier wilds of my imagination I picture it being like the nastier looking websites of the 1990s. A lot of moving purple text on a black background.

In reality, I know the theory of the dark web - the TOR browser etc. - but have no real idea of how to get there because I simply haven't the need to try. The idea that you stumble upon it by accident is quite ludicrous and no sort of defence at all

@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!

Like the Upside Down in Stranger Things

I have no idea at all - I've always found the thought of it very frightening, where people access unimaginably dreadful things. Maybe I've read too many detective thrillers.

I was literally talking to DP about this yesterday!!

I remember when I was watching that Catching Paedophiles doc on channel 4 and they'd always mention the dark web. Then a few people that were found to have pictures or whatever, would be like 'I downloaded them by mistake' 'I didn't know that's what was on the file' and I always thought why the hell are you on the dark web anyway??

To me, people only use the dark web for dodgy things (maybe that isn't always the case but to me it is lol.) I'd have absolutely no clue where to start if I wanted to use it😂
Like a pp said, I'd just google 'dark web' but I'm sure there won't be a link that shows me how to get there! So I have absolutely no clue.

Even reading the comments and people are mentioning TOR. What the hell is that??

Yes.

It took me a while to work it out and even then you'd have to be actively looking.

I have a friend who used it. She was in Russia and managed to get out a week or so ago. They used the dark web to find out what is going on in the world and not what the censored Russian media tells them. So it does have it's uses. I on the other hand haven't a scooby.

Don't know and never needed to know. Everything I need can be found on the non dark web, so I'm good.

I got one of those blackmail emails threatening to tell all my clients the websites I visit. The lowest I go is the daily Mail sidebar of shame I guess I can live with that being known!

No idea, if I needed it I think I'd have to rely on a search engine or someone on social media to tell me how to do it!

No, I can barely keep up with legitimate stuff let alone anything dodgy.

Yes. It's spoken about in the media as if you go through some portal and this whole other side of the internet opens up you. It's really not that exciting.

Yes. It’s not difficult to access. I don’t use it because I have no need to, but it can be very useful to people in countries where there is no free press.

Yes
But I had to Google Josh Duggar!

The only reason I know is because a friend had to deal with a situation at work where someone claimed it had been installed on their PC to discredit them.

No, but I’m confident if I wished to. Which I don’t. I could work it out very easily.

There is violent and abusive content on the internet, the dark web is just web pages that don't show up on search engines. We all rely on search engines to locate information on the internet unless we know the url.

When you use google search it limits what it shows you unless you very specifically go looking for something like child abuse. Search results are weighted to what is considered most relevant, or towards paying customers of google.

There are many many other search engines out there, and some do not have the same weighting methods and are more likely to return inappropriate content to an innocent search.

Funnily enough, in 30 years of browsing, I've never accidentally come across porn (I've always searched for it ).; But Monday a colleague found a tech site that Google had listed had been hijacked by a porn site. Luckily (a) I was with them, so knew it was true and (b and more importantly) they weren't on a screen share with anyone.

I think it's generally accepted that TOR has been compromised by various security services over the years. Certainly I wouldn't trust my liberty to it.

No and I don’t want to know.

I've not tried to get on to the dark web, however I wouldn't be afraid to do so.

The BBC is currently broadcasting on the dark web in Russia to get around the government imposed blocks.

Yes, I downloaded TOR some time ago when I found out a family member was buying drugs through the dark web ( I just googled, it wasnt hard)
I found it very confusing and didn't look again

@tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz

Another who hasn't a clue ... I never would want to access this but I'm intrigued how others know. I remember in one of the original Dragon Tattoo films Lisbeth (was that her name?!) asks a computer geek to do it for her and he opened a website and did a series of clocks on a picture and voila he was in.

That’s a bit of a Hollywood version - basically the same as accessing hidden Easter eggs on some games

I remember on one of the Hitman series of games when my friend noticed that my armoury was full with every gun featured in the game but he has missing slots even after going through all the missions

I told him about a secret stash out past balcony and jumping across to a hidden doorway, which was only accessible if he was undetected

That gave me hours of fun as he’d get spotted or ‘only just miss’ the gap as he fell to the ground - “oh no, you were so close” or “you just needed one more step before jumping”

What I had actually done was to complete each mission repeatedly ensuring I walked out of the exit point carrying every possible combination of weapons, and if security would catch you ‘smuggling’ weapons through particular stages then I’d kill everyone and get a poor score for that run through

I ended up doing some sneaky run throughs of the relevant missions on his account, then having some goes to try and ‘make the jump’ and miraculously I managed it while he was out of the room - then handed him the controller for the ‘honour’ of walking out of the exit and checking his armoury

You don't need to be on a dark web to have something downloaded to your computer without your knowledge.

Quick example: you visit a webpage that has a perfectly normal photo on it. The photo gets downloaded to your temporary internet files (images and scripts are automatically saved to your temporary internet files any time you visit any web page, so that it will load quicker in future).

Except that normal looking image is actually stuffed with indecent images using a process called steganography (christianespinosa.com/blog/3-steps-to-hide-data-in-an-image-using-steganography/).

So without you actually choosing to download anything, your computer now contains a file which itself contains indecent images.