To look at it in a different way, it makes up between 90% and 95% of the internet. Dark.fail is an easy-to-use .onion platform equipped with a status checker that tracks website uptime. The site offers access to PGP-verified URLs and runs free of JavaScript or tracking. This platform’s library of websites currently totals 50, which may not sound impressive until you consider that all the links are active and popular. DuckDuckGo is a helpful search engine available on the Tor that allows you to browse the dark and regular web anonymously. Unlike regular search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo does not store your data, ensuring complete anonymity.

Dark Web Search Engine Links
That’s why such a large percentage (as much as 94%) of the entire web is not returned in Google Search. Download the Linux version from torproject.org, extract the file, and run the start-tor-browser script. The “VPN-over-Tor” approach offers added protection, even if Tor is compromised. By encrypting communication before it gets to the Tor network, pairing Tor with a VPN gives a second degree of protection. Indeed, most nations; including the United States, the United Kingdom, and India, allow access to the dark web as a lawful activity. With this said, I would be interested in building a list of reliable link sites that can be endorsed in the long term.

Encrypted Communication Tools
- RiseUp is a top dark web website that offers secure email services and a chat option.
- These “dark websites” significantly enhance your browsing capabilities, but you can’t access them on a regular browser.
- It means you cannot access websites on the dark web with regular browsers like Firefox or Chrome.
- I2P can only be used to access hidden sites that are only available on the I2P network.
- Tor is a browser engineered for extra security and privacy, and can be used to navigate the normal, surface web as well as the dark web.
This can often be for political reasons, but also because they may be involved in illegal activities, such as the ones listed above. Unlike the surface and deep web, you can’t access the dark web via a standard or specialized search engine. To access the dark web, you’ll need a specific set of tools – more about that later in the step-by-step section. The dark web (often referred to as the “dark net”, “black web”, or “black net”) is a small section of the deep web that is hidden and kept inaccessible to regular internet users on purpose.
Do I Have To Use A VPN?
The dark web serves as a platform where activists can organize gatherings in secret, without the fear of giving away their plans or position to the government. Especially for these people, the dark web is the perfect platform to communicate and publish information without having to worry about imprisonment or any other form of retribution. The purpose was to protect U.S. army soldiers and agents in the field, but also politicians who held secret meetings and conversations, which contained the highest security measures. The dark web addresses are a randomly-scrambled sequence that generates URLs, mostly hard to remember ones. For example, the URL of Silk Road is rather unintelligible and may look something like “gan4arvj452janndj4a76.onion”.
Hidden Answers — Anonymous Questions And Answers

Onion sites are considered part of the deep web because search engines like Google and Bing can’t index them. George is a seasoned Cybersecurity writer who has been writing guides and news about digital security for over five years. He has worked for several international tech platforms, and his writing and editing expertise has also enhanced over time.
Where Can I Find Safe Onion Links?
One of them is by using a directory of sites, like The Hidden Wiki. The dark web is content that exists on dark nets, which require specialized software (like the Tor Browser), configurations and authorization to access. These can include the previously mentioned illegal offerings, but can also include ultra-private information designed to be shared only with certain parties. From this point onwards, you can enjoy complete anonymity and security while being able to access “.onion” websites and other dark web browser domains. When you install a VPN, all of your activities on the dark web will be hidden from unwanted snoops from your ISP or the FBI.
Tor browsers create encrypted entry points and pathways for the user, so dark web activity remains anonymous. The encryption technology routes users’ data through a large number of intermediate servers, which protects the users’ identity and guarantees anonymity. While you don’t need to log in to access any of the dark web links listed here, you can’t find them with a search engine like Google.
What Happens On Dark Web Forums?
At $9.99/month, you can migrate to a premium plan with 500 GB storage and unlimited messages. A Hidden Web Site is any site that has a domain name that ends in “.onion”. These sites are different than regular websites, because not only is your ip address hidden from them, but their ip address is also hidden from you. This gives these sites leverage to host more freely – without fear that a repressive authority will find their servers and shut them down.
They can monitor exit nodes but cannot easily trace traffic back to individual users unless mistakes are made. Use VPN, avoid logging into personal accounts, enable Tor security settings, and stick to trusted sites. While difficult, tracking is possible if security measures are misconfigured or if users reveal personal information. Avoid sharing personal information, downloading unknown files, and engaging in illegal services. While not mandatory, using a VPN adds an extra layer of privacy and security by hiding Tor usage from your internet service provider. Accessing the Dark Web using the Tor Browser is not just about exploring hidden parts of the internet—it’s about understanding privacy and cybersecurity in the modern world.
Other dark web search engines worth investigating are Ahmia, Torch, NotEvil, and the Onion URL Directory—just type out some keywords for what you’re looking for. Some of these sites can be found through regular web browsers, but you’ll then need to switch over to Tor once you’ve got the onion links you want to follow. Dark web forums are online platforms that can only be accessed using anonymous networks, mainly Tor.

Its members have a key goal to provide key resources for the Russian hacking methods to ensure that they maximize efficiency. Also, the forum features a straightforward joining process to test the skills and proficiency of its potential members. Therefore, FreeHacks is a community of undeniably elite hackers and cybercriminals. While authorities have failed to shut it down, the forum hasn’t, fortunately, witnessed easy sailing either. For instance, in January this year, it was the target of Operation Talent, the law enforcement initiative that was coordinated by the FBI and international agencies.

While some of these markets were shuttered by law enforcement agencies – some took the easy way out with exit scams. Here are some of the now-defunct dark web markets that were notorious for cybercrime. It maintains a very strict level of user verification and integration with an official Telegram account to provide real-time updates to users. Various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Monero can be used to make purchases. Security researchers have been monitoring forums within the cybercriminal underworld to investigate the leading markets operating in 2024.

As you are now familiar with the three different sections within the entire world wide web, let’s take a closer look at how you can access the dark web anonymously. The release of Freenet in 2000 is considered by many as the start or founding of the dark web. University of Edinburgh student Ian Clarke created Freenet as a thesis project. Freenet was originally intended to provide a way to anonymously interact online, providing ways to communicate, exchange information and files, and to otherwise communicate incognito. Absolutely no one knows who’s surfing on the dark web, who is selling, who is buying or anything like that – as long as you take the correct safety and online privacy precautions. It might sound weird that Google doesn’t index these pages, but it does carry some logical sense.
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Therefore, such educational aspects attract a lot of aspiring cybercriminals who want to sharpen and take their abilities to the next level. Perhaps that’s their option for generating consistent traffic and a steady influx of new members. Perhaps its strong community is helping the administrators to keep the forum alive after all the attempts by authorities to seize.
For instance, services like ProtonMail and SecureDrop (mentioned above already) have hidden sites for their users who live in countries with high levels of censorship. The anonymity provided by onion routing comes at the cost of slowing your internet considerably. As such, we do not recommend using Tor if you want to do data-intensive activities like streaming in HD, gaming, torrenting, or making video calls.