CAS 283 Section 004 Blog

More than Meets the Eye

By Sarah Hammaker

It is 7:54pm on Sunday, December 7, 2014, and I just now searched the word “octopus” into Google and acquired 58,400,000 results in .39 seconds. Although Google brought me an enormous amount of results, these results were located in the surface web, while millions more may be hiding in the deep web. For example, if I were to log onto my Tor software and search for “octopus,” I would probably find thousands more sites showing me how to buy one illegally, types of drugs I could buy under this name, and… who knows what else. I will explain both of these terms and how their effects on the internet as we know it (or do not know it).

What is the surface web?

The surface web consists of any information that is “indexed” by a standard search engine. This indexing occurs when you type a keyword into the search engine, and automated “spiders,” “crawlers,” or “robots” proliferate around by locating an accessible website based on its domain and accessibility, and finds more websites hyperlinked to this one. Any websites that these little automations can detect, are part of the surface web.

What is the deep web?

The deep web sounds chalk-full of creepy crawly information, videos, and services that only the most curious, daring, or dark-minded people would care to visit. However, this is a misconception. The deep web consists of information on the internet that cannot be “seen” by standard search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. This means that the aforementioned automated crawlers cannot access these websites, for variable reasons. The website may require login information in order to move onto other site url’s that allow a person to view different content. In this case, Facebook is a part of the deep web, as a member is required to use login information to access certain pages of content. Other website owners may simply not desire their information to be accessible to the entire public, so they can make the site non- accessible to the crawlers by giving it a “robot.txt” address. Much of the deep web includes things like medical records, financial information, unlisted or old blog posts, picture galleries, and research journal articles.

What is the dark web?

The dark web is an area of the deep web that can only be accessed through specific software that both allows the user to be anonymous, and also is able to connect to certain domain sites. This represents the true “dark side” of the internet itself, in that it provides definite answers to people in search of anything from child porn to human trafficking, from marijuana to LSD, from a hit man to a gun. These could of course be found outside of the internet, but the dark web provides a relatively easy, anonymous way to get the goods without needing crazy personal connections, or even needing to leave the comfort of home! The dark web is accessible through “Onion Router” software, more commonly known as Tor. This software provides a web browser that connects to multiple servers around the world, and access hidden sites that end in the domain “.onion” as opposed to “.com” or “.org.” These site domains grant access to the Silk road and other illegal web utilities.

How did the dark web start? And how does it continue?

The dark web began as a tool for the US Navy to communicate about potential political upheavals without the rebels detecting the communication. Unfortunately, criminals found a way to hack into this system and contaminate it with its own social upheaval. These criminals are able to remain anonymous by using the Bitcoin form of currency, allowing for completely anonymous money transactions to occur online. The product bought with the Bitcoins can then be dropped of at a random location, of which the receiver will be sent the GPS coordinates. These anonymous exchanges, as well as many other tricks, allow the dark web to continue without the participants being caught.

All bad?

Although the dark web sounds spooky, it actually has its upside as well. It allows people to privately chat about things that bother them for example, an oppressive government, without being caught by any officials. That could be cause for upheaval, but could also help to alleviate stress rooted from oppression. It also consists of social media sites, email services, and news providers that work off of complete anonymity. In an age where privacy seems nonexistent, this area of the internet could provide refuge for those searching for private support.

Conclusions

The internet is like a human life. There are a lot of great times, as well as some unpleasant times that people can see, or you can tell them. These make up surface interactions with people, and the audience sometimes feels safer only knowing these surface pieces of information. However, one’s whole life is broadcast to the world at all times, but everyone’s lives consist of mostly normal, every-day transactions, a few rotten moments, and some great times. These are simply not seen by most people, but they certainly exist and actually, make up almost the entirety of a person’s life. A common analogy is the iceberg analogy- the surface web comprises the tip of the iceberg, and the deep web is everything underneath the water. All in all, the deep web is by no means completely malicious- only slightly misunderstood.