Horrifying Dark Web Facts That Are Actually True

 

1.The Dark Web is part of the Deep Web. In simple terms, Deep Web is the part of the internet that isn't cataloged by search engines. The Dark Web specifically is where most of the illegal and disturbing stuff takes place.

2.The Dark Web is a huge marketplace for criminals and is said to generate at least $500,000 per day.

3.To access the Dark Web, though we wouldn't recommend it, your standard browser isn't going to cut it. You need to get The Onion Router, or Tor for short. Tor is both a browser and a network running a specialized applications network with volunteer computers.

4.A study done in 2001 by the University of California discovered that the Dark Web had 7.5 petabyes (7,500 gigabytes) of information. In two years, that number increased by 91,850 petabytes.

5.It should be no surprise that a place called the Dark Web would be full of scams. In one case, however, people kept falling for an elaborate scam to hire hitmen. Called Besa Mafia, the website claimed to offer hitmen services but just wanted large sums of money.

6.While the size of the Surface Web is substantial, it pales in comparison to the size of the Deep Web and Dark Web. Some estimate the Deep Web is about 400 to 500 times larger.

7.Normal currency can't be used on the Dark Web. Users regularly depend on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to make market transactions. These are especially popular because they're virtually untraceable.

8.For years, the Islamic State, or ISIS, has been using the Dark Web as both a propaganda, recruiting, and fund raising tool. Intelligence agencies, such as the NSA, have been using software like XKeyscore to know the identity of Tor users.

9.If you're the Doomsday Prepper type, there's a place on the Dark Web called "Strategic Intelligence Network" with tons of information about how to survive any crisis, be it a war torn country or a riot.

10.While not surprising but still alarming, international arms trade has a presence on the Dark Web. The Untied States is the most common source country with 60% of the arms originating from there. Supposedly, you can find everything from an AK-47 to a rocket launcher if you look hard enough.

11.In recent years, the Dark Web has been a big seller for illegal drugs especially among students. Even with the recent bust of Silk Road, the biggest supplier of illegal drugs, sales have been strong and growing.

12.Your identity is on sale on the Dark Web. Passwords for individual bank accounts can range up to $160, and your entire identity could only cost around $1,200.

13.In the past, game fixing and illegal gambling usually involved a shady guy at a bar or in a locker room with athletes, taking bets or trying to convince them to throw the game. Now, it all happens on the Dark Web.

14.In the much darker parts of the Dark Web are places called "Red Rooms." Essentially, they're video feeds of people in a room being tortured. It's said people will pay to watch them. While there hasn't been much evidence they exist, a few cases have cropped up.

15.One of those cases involves the disturbed pedophile Peter Scully. Scully put up a website and users paid $10,000 to watch him torture a child. Scully was arrested and as of 2017, faced trial in the Philippines.