Darknet is an overlay portion of the Internet network that can only be accessed using specific authorization using distinctively tailored communication protocols. Attackers usually exploit the darknet to threaten several world-wile users with different types of attack/intrusion vectors. In this chapter, we shed the light on the darknet network, concepts, elements, structure, and other aspects of darknet utilization. Specifically, this chapter will extend the elaboration on the darknet, the dark web components, the dark web access methods, the anonymity and confidentiality of the dark web, the dark web crimes, the cyber-attacks on the dark web, the malware on the dark web, the internet governance of dark web, the payment on the dark web, and the impacts of the dark web. This chapter will profound the knowledge of the dark web and provides more insights to readers about darknet attacks, malware, and their counter-measures.
Top1. Introduction
As a result of technological developments brought on by digitalization, a wide variety of assault types have emerged. As more people rely on the internet to satisfy their needs, web security has become a significant concern. In the late 1990s, Cyberspace flourished, and it arose to transform many aspects of life globally. You can communicate with anyone online if you have an Internet connection. The main issue is that privacy and anonymity should have been considered when designing the Internet. Therefore, everything can be traced or tracked. One of them is the US Federal Government, which had serious privacy concerns in the middle of the 1990s.
For the US Navy's Naval Research Laboratory, a consortium of statisticians and computer researchers developed the novel technique known as “Onion Routing” (NRL). To enable anonymous, two-way communication, it is possible to build an overlay network (Ibrahim et al., 2022) built over another network, as shown in Figure 7.1. A darknet is a network that employs onion routing. The Dark Web was created by fusing these various darknets. The NRL staff quickly understood that everyone, not just the US government, needed access to the network to be completely anonymous. The Onion Router (TOR) was developed due to the NRL's forced release of its onion routing technology under an Open-Source License (Ciancaglini et al., n.d).
1.1 Internet Structure
Figure 7.1.1 shows the three components of the World Wide Web (www): the dark web, the deep web, and the surface web. Popular web search engines make it simple for the general public to access the Surface Web, also called the visible or indexed web. Search engines only return 4% of the results on the web surface.
The deep web (Mirea et al., 2019) is exclusive to certain users, in contrast to the surface web, which is available to every user. The Hidden or Invisible Web is another name for it. An estimated 96% of the Internet comprises the deep web and dark web. It is primarily meant for private intentions. The deep web content can be found in databases, online banking, and anything else that needs a password.
The World Wide Web (WWW) is also referred to as the “Dark Web” (Ibrahim et al., 2022), and its content cannot be accessed using the same browsers as the surface web because it is not a part of the surface web. It started as a way for the US Military to help conceal information using intelligence assets stationed far away. Most unlawful and harmful online activity occurs on the “dark web.” It is a hub for fraud/hacking services. Additionally, it is a venue for illegal activities like terrorism, child pornography, and phishing scams.
Figure 2.
The layers of the internet (AL Attack Map, 2020)
Several browsers, for instance, The Onion Router (TOR), FreeNet,, Invisible Internet Project (I2P), Whonix, and Rife, permit us to access the Dark Web. A subtype of the Deep Web called the Dark Web additionally offers concealed facilities and is finished with an onion extension.