How big is the Dark Web?

[Caute_cautim]

How big is the Dark Web?  We are told through different avenues that it is estimated to be 450 to 500 times bigger than Facebook, Google and other "Surface Web" Internet based statistics? 

We know it is relatively easy to access the "Dark Web" or "Deep Web" via TOR - Onion Rings, and via I2P - a Peer to Peer network and some other means?  It is often illustrated as an Iceberg, i.e. 5 to 10% is above the Ocean surface and the other 80-95% is below the surface, hidden within silo's containing many diverse active groups, and unscrupulous means of making money.  In fact it is said that the Information Crime world that exists is in fact the third most successful financial organisation in the world.

Do people use the Dark Web for intelligence gathering?  And is it really 80-95% greater in size than the "Surface Web"? 

Regards

Caute_cautim

[rslade]

> Caute_cautim (Community Champion) edited a topic in Tech Talk on 09-29-2019

> How big is the Dark Web?

Gather round, my children, and the Author of the Dictionary will tell you tales of
some words and phrases that you shouldn't use, if you want to be taken seriously.
(Of course, if all you want to do is scare those clueless dolts in management, all
bets are off.)

The "Dark Web" is a scary and dangerous place invented by some reporter or
security vendor on a slow news day. It is, purposefully, ill-defined, so it's hard to
say how big it is. Or what it is. Or if it exists.

I was born in the Dark Web. That is to say, I was using the Internet before the
invention of the World Wide Web. (Or the invention of the term "Internet,"
come to that.) Back in those early, dark days, we all had to learn to use a lot of
different tools if we wanted to get anything done. You had to search (again, with
a variety of tools) to find out what was there.

One of the definitions of the "Dark Web" that I actually like is "anything you
can't find on Google." If it's easy, it's not on the "Dark Web." This includes:
machines, sites, and servers that do not use HTTP; private intranets that are
actually connected to the Internet; sites that use the robot exclusion protocol;
new sites that haven't made themselves known to Google; people who don't know
how to do SEO; and some, few, malicious sites and Web pages for blackhats.

Because of a) the amorphous nature of what the Dark Web is (or isn't), and b) the
fact that much of the Dark Web is simply people who either don't want to be
found or can't figure out how to be found, it's hard to determine how big the Dark
Web is (you have to define it, first).

>  We are told through different avenues that it is
> estimated to be 450 to 500 times bigger than Facebook, Google and other "Surface
> Web" Internet based statistics?

Or how big it is compared to what you can find on Google.

>    We know it is relatively easy to access the
> "Dark Web" or "Deep Web" via TOR - Onion Rings, and via I2P - a Peer to Peer
> network and some other means?

You don't necessarily need TOR to explore the Dark Web.

(Have I told you my Nigerian "onion" story?)

You can get a start with Shodan, and maybe start to have an idea ...

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[Caute_cautim]

@rsladeAre you still using IRC? 

Regards

Caute_cautim

[rslade]

> Caute_cautim (Community Champion) mentioned you in a post! Join the conversation

> @rslade Are you still using IRC?

Hey, I'm still using *email* ...

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[CraginS]

---

@Caute_cautim wrote:

How big is the Dark Web?  We are told through different avenues that it is estimated to be 450 to 500 times bigger than Facebook, Google and other "Surface Web" Internet based statistics? 

We know it is relatively easy to access the "Dark Web" or "Deep Web" via TOR - Onion Rings, and via I2P - a Peer to Peer network and some other means?  I

Grandpa Rob @rslade is right, you cannot have this discussion without adequately defining Dark Web. Your posting implies you are considering one extant  understanding, that the Dark Web is the intentionally hidden web supporting criminal and other nefarious purposes, tappable only through TOR. Rob, however, presents an equally well understood definition, that is web content not discoverable by Google or other standard web search tools. There is a HUGE amount of data in the latter that is not nefarious at all, but simply organizational or enterprise data behind access servers with only IP addresses and no domain registrations. Enterprise users reach those servers by using the IP addresses, and (we hope) additional IDAM confirmation. 

Craig

[rslade]

Check out this Naked Security article, or the BBC on the Dark Web or the New York Times on the Dark Web.