Stolen credit cards, hacked email accounts, guns, drugs, assassins.
If you're going to dive into the dark web then you'd better be ready to see some nasty things down below.
The underbelly of the Internet is haven for criminals, but it's actually very easy for anyone to access.
So how does it work and what exactly is down there?
Let's shed some light on the dark web.
[MUSIC]
Before we visit the murky depths, let's explore the web you know.
And for that, we've come to the Sydney aquarium, because the internet is like the ocean.
Everything that can be caught on a search engine like Google is part of the surface web.
Out in the open, easily accessible to your standard web browser.
But there is a vast amount of the internet that is actually out of reach from search engines.
And this is known as the 'Deep Web.' The sites on the Deep Web are ones you do not find on the average Google search.
Things that you need a special login or software to access [SOUND] Access.
The biggest thing down here are things like your email in boxes, internet banking, medical records, even really mending things like academic research on university network.
But go a little deeper into the deep web and you will find the dark web, you can't even get here with chrome or Firefox, you need a special browser to even see the content on the dark web.
The most popular browser is Tor.
It's a free download and it's designed to shield the identity of its users.
The sites looking down here don't even end in .com.
They end in .onion and they can only be accessed through special browsers like Tor.
Be warned, if you go exploring down here, you'd better watch where you step.
It's not illegal to use Tor, but start clicking around, and you'll quickly find marketplaces like the now shuttered Silk Road, that sell really illegal stuff.
And some of it can be pretty darn disturbing.
The payment of choice?
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which are incredibly difficult to track.
While most of the dark web is used by criminals, some people argue that it can be really good for those trying to evade survalence from governments or even oppressive regimes.
In fact, plenty of people use browsers like Tor just to stay anonymous on the regular web.
So you might think of the internet as just the surface web.
But a lot what you do online is actually on the deep web.
And not every one down in the dark web is a shark but for the most part a dark web is a haven for the worst of the worst so be careful when you explore down below, there are be monsters.
