Deep web and dark web are so technical in nature that we found tons of confusion on what they really mean. More tech-savvy publications generally have a disclaimer when discussing the dark web, pleading with their readers that this is often to not be confused with the deep web, which is said, but not the least equivalent thing. So, what exactly are the dark web and therefore the deep web, and why are technology reporters so wary when using either terms?
What is the Deep Web?
Deep web, isn't all that deep layered. It is a series of private servers, and blank pages that is not hard to get to at all either. There are many different types of software and private servers to access it.
What is the Dark Web?
You need a special web browser called Tor that can access the internet for the darkest part of the deep web, dark web. The URLs of the websites located here are known as .onion links. The key takeaway here is that the dark web is a component of the deep web.
What do the Dark Web and therefore the Deep Web have in common?
What the dark web and therefore the deep web have in common is that they're both hidden from commercial search engines and are a part of the private servers. You can't access either from Google or Bing or any other regular search engines used in the clearnet.
When people discuss the seedy underbelly of the web where one can buy drugs, weapons, child porn, murders-for-hire—basically any illicit item or service you'll dream up—that’s the dark web. Greenberg notes that while the deep web is vast and accounts for 90-something percent of the web,the dark web likely only accounts for about .01 percent. The dark web, sometimes mentioned as Darknet, is accessed by Tor (The Onion Router) or I2P (Invisible Internet Project), which use masked IP addresses to take care of anonymity for users and site owners. This way, people that use the dark web for illegal purposes can’t be traced.