The Hidden Web

A case study on the web we don’t see

By Jon Kane

Surface Web or Deep Web?Exercise:

1. Go to CNN.com and click through links to get to different articles- This is how a search engine works

2. Go to Hotwire.com and find a flight to NYC from May 4-8 by only clicking links- Were you able to accomplish the task?

BrightPlanet 2015.

What is included in the Deep Web?

Surface Web → Web Interfaces → Specific Web Sites → Web Databases

^These are usually servers that access information stored in databases on the backend of a surface site

^These are places where information is stored to be retrieved and sent back out to the surface site

Forms coded in HTML^ and included on web-pages that we type in. They are called Queries, and are the user’s way of connecting to the hidden database.

Any Site^

Bin He, Mitesh Patel, Zhen Zhang, Kevin Chen-Chuan Chang, 2013, pg 2.

Surface Web or Deep Web or Dark Web?

Deep Web is 500x larger than the surface web

- Surface web has an estimated 555 million unique domains today

Deep Web ≠ Dark Web

- Dark Web can only be accessed through special browsers that hide users’ identity

BrightPlanet. 2013.

Screenshot by Jon Kane, 2015.

The Tor Browser“The Onion Router” → Created specifically to access Dark Web sites

- .onion = .com

- Strange site names such as: http://dirnxxdraygbifgc.onion/ = Wiki linking to other difficult to type sites

- Variable Privacy Settings → → → → →Screenshot by Jon Kane, 2015.

The illegal side of The Dark WebThe Tor network’s goal is freedom through anonymity, but this can use be used for good and evil.

Some illicit activities:

- Controlled substance marketplaces Armories selling all kinds of weapons- Child pornography- Unauthorized leaks of sensitive information Money laundering- Copyright infringement- Credit Card fraud and identity theft

BrightPlanet. 2013, pg 3.

Screenshots by Jon Kane, 2015.

Social Media on the Dark Web- The Dark Web has many

platforms for communication: - chatrooms- message boards- blogs- content hosting- social networks

- Some popular social networks on surface web are also on Dark Web

- Facebook - Twitter Clone → → → →

Screenshot by Jon Kane, 2015.

The Hidden Wiki, 2015.

Questions?

Ask Away!

Sources1. Clearing Up Confusion: Deep Web vs. Dark Web. BrightPlanet. http://www.brightplanet.

com/2014/03/clearing-confusion-deep-web-vs-dark-web/#more-31062. Facebook sets up 'dark web' link to access network via Tor. Dave Lee. http://www.bbc.

com/news/technology-298798513. Accessing The Deep Web. Bin He, Mitesh Patel, Zhen Zhang, Kevin Chen-Chuan Chang. http:

//citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.94.9091&rep=rep1&type=pdf4. Understanding the Deep Web in 10 minutes. BrightPlanet. http://bigdata.brightplanet.

com/whitepaper-understanding-the-deep-web-in-10-minutes/5. White Paper: The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value. BrightPlanet. http://quod.lib.umich.

edu/cgi/t/text/idx/j/jep/3336451.0007.104/%E2%80%93white-paper-the-deep-web-surfacing-hidden-value?rgn=main;view=fulltext

6. The Hidden Wiki. Web links to dark web site urls. http://thehiddenwiki.org/