The document discusses the darknet, which is a collection of webpages not indexed by search engines and often hidden, requiring special software like Tor to access. While primarily used for legal purposes, the darknet's anonymity has also enabled some criminal activity, including drug markets, child pornography, and sites offering assassination services. Law enforcement finds it very difficult to police the darknet due to its scale and tight security. The document raises questions about whether a platform enabling both freedom and crime should exist, and if Tor's creators should do more to control the software's use.

1. BEYOND THE KNOWN INTERNET:
THE DARKNET OR THE DEEP WEB
By: Matthew Kwong

2. Suppose you key a search into Google. What
percentage of the total number of pages on the
internet do you think is actually being
searched?

3. THE ANSWER? 0.03%, OR A RATIO OF
3 PER 10000 WEB PAGES ARE
ACTUALLY ACCESSIBLE TO SEARCH
ENGINES
So where is the remaining
99.97% of the internet?

4. SO WHAT IS THE DARKNET?
• The internet consists of hyperlinks, all indexed by a search engine
– this is the surface web
• Darknet is a collection of un-indexed webpages, meaning they
cannot be found through a search
• Often the pages themselves are hidden, meaning you need a
program such as “Tor” to access them

5. Surface
Web
Deep
Web

6. HOW TO ACCESS THE
DARKNET
• Viewing Darknet pages requires the use of software that conceals
your IP address
• The best known is Tor, initially developed for use by the US
military
• Tor stands for “the onion router” – any URL that ends in .onion is
a hidden page

7. THE DARKNET CONTINUED
• In short, Tor works by sending data through multiple nodes
before reaching its destination
• Even with Tor installed Darknet pages still cannot be searched –
pages are accessed either through a hub, or links provided by
“members”
• Currently the fastest growing sector of the internet, over 500
times larger then the “surface” web

8. THE DARKNET AND CRIME
• As eerie as it may sound, the Darknet is primarily not criminal
• Nonetheless, anonymity has helped foster criminal activity
• A site called The Silk Road sells drugs and another illicit items for
Bitcoins, a digital currency
• There are also sites for distributing child pornography (with tight
security), provide information on making bombs for terrorism
and even for hiring hitmen

10. ORGANIZED CRIME
ELEMENTS
• A crime syndicate called the Russian Business Network
(RBN) is known for using murky address space to send
spam
• These "dark address spaces" are online addresses which
have been abandoned or forgotten over time
• The RBN can send spam through these addresses and
then quickly disconnect to avoid detection
• They may also rent these spaces out to criminals for
spreading viruses or online identity theft

11. IN SUMMARY...
• The Darknet was conceived to allow anonymous online
communication – it is now predominantly used for criminal
activity
• The characteristics of the Darknet allows criminals to
market illicit goods and services, and may even bring like-
minded individuals together
• The sheer scale and tight security of the Darknet means that
is very difficult and time consuming for law enforcement to
control it – even if they say otherwise

12. DISCUSSION
In a sense the Darknet
represents contradicting
ideas: a place of true freedom,
but also a platform for
criminal elements to
organize, advertise and carry
out their activities. Given a
choice, should a place such as
the Darknet even exist?
The administrators of Tor
have stated that if they detect
criminal activity using Tor,
they do report it; however
they do not actively look for
such activity. Should the
creators of Tor be doing more
to control how their program
is used?