The Secrets of the Deep Web or Deep Internet

Last Updated: 

November 16, 2023

Normal users simply open their browser, search Google and check their social networks. But with everything that has come to light in recent years: government spy programs, companies that provide services that almost all of us use and collect our personal information to sell it to the highest bidder, censorship in different parts of the world and citizen blockade. People are increasingly well versed in the knowledge they need to protect their identities, circumvent censorship, and discover other layers of the web. This is where the Deep Web or deep Internet arises. In this post we explain what it consists of, how to access it, what we can find and the differences with the Dark Web.

Key Takeaways on The Secrets of the Deep Web:

  1. Understanding the Deep Web: The Deep Web refers to all content on the internet that's not part of the Surface Web. This includes content that is not indexed by search engines and can't be accessed by a regular browser. The Deep Web makes up the majority of the internet, totaling approximately 7.5 petabytes.
  2. Differences between Deep Web, Dark Web, Darknet, and Clearweb: The Deep Web is hidden from conventional search engines through encryption, whereas the Dark Web is intentionally hidden, uses masked IP addresses, and is only accessible with a special browser. Darknets are specific networks like TOR or I2P that host these hidden pages. The Clearweb refers to the portion of the internet that is easily accessible and indexed by search engines.
  3. Accessing the Deep Web: Regular search engines like Google can't find Deep Web content as it's not part of the surface layer. However, the Firefox browser and private search engines like DuckDuckGo can index deep web resources, offering some degree of privacy and access.
  4. Deep Web Content: Despite common misconceptions, the Deep Web is not just a marketplace for illegal activities. It also hosts a vast amount of harmless data and information, vital for protecting personal data and privacy. It includes academic publications, internal sites of companies, intranet systems of schools and universities, online databases, password-protected websites, and timed access pages, among others.
  5. Deep Web Tiers: The web has eight levels, ranging from the easily accessible common and surface webs, through the Bergie and Deep Web levels accessible via proxy and TOR, to the obscure and mostly unknown levels of Marianas Web and the Primarch System.
  6. Myths and Facts about the Deep Web: Despite many misconceptions, the Deep Web is not solely run by criminals, nor does it require special tools for access. The majority of the Deep Web is perfectly legitimate and managed by reputable companies and individuals. Although access to most of the Deep Web is free, it's important to distinguish between the Deep Web and the Dark Web, which, while being a tiny part of the internet, is notorious for illegal activities.
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What is the deep web

The Deep Web refers to all content on the World Wide Web that is not part of the Surface Web, that is, content that is not on websites that can be indexed by search engines and can be accessed regularly by any user. . browser.

Although it is hard to believe, so much so that for many it is just an urban legend, the Deep Web makes up the majority of the Internet. It is approximately 7.5 petabytes (1 petabyte is 1000 terabytes). The web that we all know (Facebook, Wikipedia, blogs, etc.) represents less than 1% of the total Internet.

The idea is simple and confusing at the same time, but the net has been compared to the ocean. On the surface of the sea are search engines, which collect the websites that are linked to each other, static pages, like this website, for example. This is the area of ​​the ocean that we can “surf”. The databases are located a little further down. When a database is queried, it generates a unique page that is not indexed by search engines and therefore is not part of the Surface Web.

Academic publications, like private scientific journals, are also not part of the surface, because they are hidden on individual pages within private networks. Many pages are also hidden because they are part of an intranet, usually from companies or universities.

The Deep Web is not a toy, and the darkness that surrounds it has made it a niche for the worst things imaginable: drug trafficking, pornography, weapons, and even contract killers. They say you don't surf the Deep Web, you dive into it.

Instead of search engines, it has a few reference sites where you can start your search, like The Hidden Wiki, but be very careful because you might come across things you'd rather not see or others don't want you to see.

Differences between Deep Web, Dark Web, Darknet and Clearweb

The Deep Web is defined as the portion of the Internet that is hidden from conventional search engines, through encryption; the set of non-indexed websites.

On the other hand, the Dark web is defined as the part of the Internet that is intentionally hidden from search engines, uses masked IP addresses, and can only be accessed with a special web browser: it is part of the deep web.

While both the deep web and the dark web are in the news about illegal behavior online, the dark web is only a small part of the deep web where users employ masked IP addresses to hide their identity.

While the Dark Web is all that deliberately hidden content that we find on the Internet, darknets are those specific networks like TOR or I2P that host those pages. The darknet refers to networks that are not indexed by search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing. These are networks that are only available to a select group of people and not to the general Internet public, and are only accessible with specific authorisation, software, and configurations.

Finally, the Clearweb is the section of the Internet that can be accessed from any browser and is regularly crawled and indexed by search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

How to enter the Deep Web?

When you search for a word or phrase on a search engine like Google, the search engine “crawls” across the Internet to find surface-level results.

Since Deep Web content is never part of this surface layer, you cannot find Deep Web content using a traditional search engine.

As a precaution, using the Firefox browser will prevent your browsing history from being tracked. This prevents retroactive searches from interfering with your access to Deep Web materials and ensures a degree of privacy not found in other browsers. As with any browser, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will still be able to see your browsing activity if they search for it.

DuckDuckGo, found at https://duckduckgo.com/, is a private search engine that can index both surface-level web results and deep web resources. While unlikely, you may be able to find some Deep Web results here.

The main disadvantage of using DuckDuckGo is that popular surface-level web results are more likely to appear than less-traveled deep web results. You can try to find Deep Web results through DuckDuckGo by browsing to the final search results pages.

If you want to search for a specific type of database, do the following:

While more secure than previous versions, Windows 10 still contains security flaws that make it exceptionally vulnerable to hacking attempts or viruses while browsing the Deep Web. Linux is highly recommended for people planning to use the Dark Web.

What can be found?

The deep web is mistakenly associated with illegal dark web activity all the time, and is also called the invisible or hidden web, further baffling its surprisingly normal uses.

The deep web is not just a market for drugs and other illegal items; that description is not remotely accurate. The deep web is mostly harmless and extremely important to protect our personal information and privacy.

The hidden world of the Deep Web contains a wealth of data, information, and a host of possibilities, including but not limited to:

  • The internal sites of major companies, associations and trade organisations.
  • The intranet systems of schools, colleges and universities
  • Access to online databases
  • Password protected websites with members-only access
  • Pages Wrapped in Paywall
  • Timed access pages, such as those found on online test sites
  • An individual's personal account for social media, email, banking and more.

The Deep Web is not always illegal and many activities are carried out that are completely within the context of the law. Activities like the ones listed below are common on the Deep Web:

  • Social networks, blogs, text messages and voice chat
  • International tournament style games like Chess and Backgammon
  • Book clubs, fan clubs, video game clubs
  • Hidden Answers – A Popular Deep Web Version of Yahoo Answers
  • Public records and certificates, library system indexes
  • Communicate using encrypted usage to ensure privacy and protection
  • Singing and karaoke contests
  • Conspiracy Theorist Groups and Preferred “Local” Bases
  • Computer and technology skills classes and courses

Deep Web Tiers

In total, there are 8 levels of the web. Here is a detailed description:

Level 0 – Common Web: This level is the one you browse every day: YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia and other famous or easily accessible websites can be found here.

Tier 1 – Surface Web: This is a tier still accessible through normal means, but contains “more obscure” websites, such as Reddit.

Level 2 – Bergie Web: This is the last normally accessible level: all levels after this must be accessed with a proxy, Tor or by modifying your hardware. At this level you can find some “underground” but still indexed websites, like 4chan.

Level 3 – Deep Web: The first part of this level must be accessed with a proxy. Contains CP, gore, website hacking… Here begins the Deep Web. The second part of this level is only accessible through Tor and contains more sensitive information.

Level 4 – Charter Web: This level is also divided into two parts. The former can be accessed via Tor. There are things like drug and human trafficking, banned movies and books, and black markets. The second part can be accessed through a hardware modification: a “Closed Shell System”. This part of Charter Web contains hardcore PC, experimental hardware information, but also more obscure information.

Level 5 – Marianas Web: You will be lucky to find someone who knows. Probably secret government documentation.

Level 6 is an intermediary between Marianas Web and level 7.

Level 7 – The Fog/Virus Soup: This level is like a war zone. Everyone for himself and everyone is trying to reach level 8. People try to prevent others from reaching level 8 in whatever way is necessary.

Level 8 – The Primarch System: This is the last level of the web. It is impossible to access directly the Primarch System is literally what controls the internet at the time. No government controls it. In fact, no one even knows what it is. It's an anomaly that was basically discovered by scans of the super deep network in the early 2000s. The eighth layer is believed to be separated by a quantum-level function lock.

Myths and facts about the Deep Web

Let's see the main myths and facts about the Deep Web:

  • Fact: The Deep Web is bigger than the Surface Web. Current estimates suggest that the Surface Web is made up of one billion documents. The Deep Web contains 550 billion, making it much, much bigger.
  • Fiction: The Deep Web is run by criminals. Much news about the Deep Web confuses unindexed web pages with the Dark Web, a system used to hide online activities. The reality is that most of the Deep Web is perfectly legitimate and is run by reputable companies and individuals.
  • Fiction: You need special tools to access. Most of the Deep Web is just basic web pages; all you need is a standard web browser like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. The Dark Web, on the other hand, uses a special browser called Tor to hide browsing activity, and you can't get on without it.
  • Fact: Access to most of the Deep Web is completely free. Although the content on the Deep Web is a bit harder to find, 95% of those pages, videos, and images are completely free to access. Deep Web content that is not freely accessible includes subscription content such as newspapers and membership sites.
  • Fiction: Dark Web and Deep Web are the same. Some people use the terms interchangeably, but they are totally different things. The Dark Web is built on the idea of ​​protecting privacy, a fact that criminals sometimes take advantage of to trade illegally. The Deep Web is simply content that is inaccessible to search engines, making it a bit more difficult to discover. Experts estimate that although the Deep Web represents more than 90% of the Internet, the Dark Web represents less than 0.1%.

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