The Web is divided into 3 layers:
The Surface Web
The Deep Web
Dark Web
1.The Surface Web: It’s the common Internet everyone uses to read articles, news , shop gadgets…etc. Just consider this the “regular” Internet.* like Google, Twitter, YouTube and so on.If we want to find some information we search them which leads us to a website which is in surface web i.e indexed page visible to search engines
FOR ACCESSING
Just search something in any search engine, it is a surface web , even google is a part of surface web
2.The Deep Web: The deep web is a subset of the Internet that is not indexed by the major search engines. This means that you have to visit those places directly instead of being able to search for them. So there aren’t directions to get there, but they’re waiting if you have an address. The Deep Web is largely there simply because the Internet is too large for search engines to cover completely. So the Deep Web is the long tail of what’s left out , like some company's database (as only specific people can access it or only some need these)[not to be confused for intranet , its another thing]
FOR ACCESSING
You will require exact address or URL as these pages are not indexed and can't be searched.
3.The Dark Web: Now this is something majority of people are unaware of, The Dark Web (also called Darknet) - a subset of the Deep Web that is not only not indexed, but that also requires something special to be able to access it, ex. specific proxying software or authentication to gain access( like TOR ). These pages require additional sub-network like Freenet ,I2P , TOR. Thes and is often associated with criminal activity of various degrees, including buying and selling drugs, gambling, etc. Have you heard of SILK ROAD , it was started in .onion sites only.
DARK WEB
The dark Web is comprised of websites that are visible to the public, but their IP address details are intentionally hidden. These websites can be visited by anyone on Internet, but it is not easy to find the server details on which the corresponding site is running, and it is difficult to track the one hosting the site.
The dark Web concept is achievable with the help of anonymity tools. Some popular tools are Tor and I2P. The dark Web is popular for both black market and user protection, so it has both positive and negative aspects.
The dark Web ensures one’s privacy by effectively hiding the server or IP details from the public. The dark Web requires special kinds of software to access. This software acts as a gateway to the dark Web. Once the user gains access, then all the dark websites and other services can be accessed in a simple way with help of browsers.
The dark Web includes a wide range of networks, from small, friend-to-friend/peer-to-peer networks to large, popular networks such as Freenet, I2P and Tor, operated by public organizations and individuals. Some of the categories of Web-based hidden services include:
Drugs
Fraud
Gambling
Chatting
Hacking
Hosting
Search
Anonymity
Whistleblower
Most dark websites are not directly accessible via a normal search made through a search engine; they effectively hide themselves. They are accessible only if the addresses of those sites are known to the user. Some methods which hide websites from normal searches are:
Private Web which requires registration
Contextual Web varies as per IP
Limited access content where access is limited to certain licensed contents
Scripted content which is accessible only through links generated by JavaScript or dynamically downloaded from Web servers
Non-HTML/text content
Software where data are intentionally hidden from the regular Internet and made accessible only with special software, such as Tor, I2P, or other darknet software
Web archives which are archived versions of Web pages, including websites which have become inaccessible, and are not indexed by search engines such as Google
The industries which operate over the dark Web are known as darknet markets; this includes black market sales of illegal products, to stay hidden from governments and law enforcement agencies. The dark Web is also used in other ways, like communication between whistleblowers and protecting users from attacks or surveillance to ensure privacy in communication. But the dark Web is mostly used in black markets as it promises total anonymity.
