Q. Occasionally in the media I hear reference to the Dark Web. Can BBB provide more insight and any concerns we as consumers should know?
A. Interesting question, a recent FTC publication reads like a spy novel. It describes how information stolen in a data breach often ends up on the “dark web.”
A report by the Congressional Research Service describes the different layers of the Internet. Most people only access information in the “surface web” that’s indexed by traditional search engines like Google. Beneath it is the “deep web,” which is content that isn’t indexed for a variety of technical reasons. In the furthest corners of the Deep Web lies the “dark web” where content is intentionally concealed.
Accessing the dark web requires special software and authorization. Some uses are legitimate. The government, law enforcement, journalists and other entities leverage its anonymity to gather intelligence, maintain privacy in communicating with sources and protect projects from corporate spies.
However, the dark web also includes “darknet markets” that sell or broker drugs, weapons, counterfeit currency, stolen credit cards, forged documents, unlicensed pharmaceuticals and other illicit goods. A notorious example was the Silk Road website, which was used to sell illegal drugs, malicious software, fake passports and stolen Social Security numbers.