Have you ever wondered where the dark web sites are? Do you wonder why you have never “stumbled” on them? There is a very good reason for that. They are not out in the open. Dark web sites hide behind dark web browsers and dark web search engines. Even the best are challenged to keep up with the constant changes in the landscape, which shifts constantly. Even one of the best search engines, called Grams, returns results that are repetitive and often irrelevant to the query. Link lists like The Hidden Wiki are another option, but even indices also return a frustrating number of timed-out connections and 404 errors.

Dark Web Sites

A dark web site really looks like any other side but the differences are very important. One, is the way the pages are named. They do not end in .com, or .net. They end in .onion. That’s “a special-use top level domain suffix designating an anonymous hidden service reachable via the Tor network,” according to Wikipedia. Browsers with the appropriate proxy can reach these sites, but others can’t. They also use a complex naming structure for URL’s that make them hard to remember. For example, a frequently visited site called Dream Market goes by “eajwlvm3z2lcca76.onion.” Good luck trying to remember that!!

Many dark websites are set up by scammers, who constantly move around to avoid the wrath of their victims. Even commerce sites that may have existed for a year or more can suddenly disappear if the owners decide to cash in and flee with the escrow money they’re holding on behalf of customers. Law enforcement is getting better at finding owners of these sites, but the bad actors always seem to stay a step or two ahead.The anonymous nature of the Tor network also makes it especially vulnerable to DDoS. Sites are constantly changing addresses to avoid DDoS, which makes for a very dynamic environment. As a result, the quality of search varies widely, and a lot of material is outdated.

Dark web sites have been around for years. Sometimes they get caught,. but mostly they don’t. It’s a business down there and they work hard to recruit talent by paying them a lot of money. My advice is to stay away from the dark web if you can. You don’t need to be there.