Some users, such as whistleblowers or journalists working on sensitive issues in oppressive authoritarian governments, need privacy to carry out their activities. Naval Research Laboratory to enable secure and anonymous communication. It works by routing your encrypted traffic through multiple volunteer-operated servers, known as onion routers.
Learn moreWizcase was established in 2018 as an independent site reviewing VPN services and covering privacy-related stories. Instead of the onion routing Tor uses, I2P relies on unidirectional tunnels and garlic routing, which bundles multiple messages together for better traffic obfuscation. Tor is the most popular way to access the dark web, but it’s not the only option. Most threats don’t come from the network itself — they come from the sites you visit, the files you download, and the mistakes you make. A VPN doesn’t encrypt traffic after it exits the Tor network.
Connect To A VPN
Before visiting any dark websites, get comprehensive cybersecurity software to help protect yourself from threats you may encounter. The subreddit r/deepweb is a good starting point for asking more experienced users about how to search the dark web and deep web for the content you want. Surface web search engines can’t access the darknet, but specialized dark web search engines can help you find what you’re looking for. Dark web search engines and forums like Reddit can help you find reliable dark websites, and you’ll need to use a dark web browser to visit them.
Browse The Web More Safely
High-profile cases like the Silk Road, an infamous online black market, highlighted the extent of illegal activities facilitated by the dark web. Legal frameworks focus on the content and transactions conducted on the dark web rather than the act of accessing it. Browsing legal content or engaging in lawful activities is permissible, but engaging in illegal activities is not.
The surface web is what the average daily internet user interacts with the most. Cybercrime is getting more sophisticated, putting businesses at a serious disadvantage when it comes to protecting their networks. However, if you’re going to venture into the dark web, you’ll need to be well–prepared, so keep reading to keep safe. The internet is almost unfathomably large, and most of us are only actively engaging with between 4-5% of it.
Are Sites On The Dark Web Illegal To Use And Visit?
Many countries, such as Qatar, China, Cuba, Russia, and Turkey, censor internet content promoting political dissent. People who live under a government that deeply supervises or censors internet traffic eventually get attracted to the dark web. However, it’s illegal if you venture into the dark web to commit unlawful actions such as downloading child porn, buying fake documents, drugs, credit cards, and more.
How To Access The Dark Web On A Phone In 2025
- Because dark web pages generally aren’t indexed, you can’t find them using traditional search engines, but some search engines like DuckDuckGo may help you navigate the dark web more easily.
- A logless VPN, which doesn’t store any traffic logs nor session logs is highly preferable.
- SearX is a metasearch engine that you can use on the clear web and dark web.
- "All of your traffic goes through it, and you have to trust them as if they are your new ISP. Because the backbone of our software is a decentralised network, you don’t have to trust us to browse the internet privately."
- The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is working to develop an international legal framework to address cybercrime, including activities on the dark web.
- Review the info and hit Create when you’re done.
One of Daniel’s impressive features was the built-in functionality that showed whether a particular dark website is online. It hosted over 7,000 .onion categorized links to make surfing the web easier. Taking the necessary precautions makes tracing your activities on the dark web difficult. Also, try its services risk-free with the 30-day money-back guarantee. If the VPN connection fails, the automatic kill switch will kick in, temporarily breaking your traffic.
Why Use The Tor Browser With A VPN
It’s possible to buy and sell illegal drugs, malware, and prohibited content in darknet marketplaces. But there are also many illegal activities that happen on the dark web. These range from phishing campaigns to DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks, which can take down entire servers and websites. Lastly, The Hidden Wiki is a collection of dark web links — but the links may not work and can lead to dangerous websites. This helps obscure the origin of the data (and makes it hard for anyone to find your IP address).
Use Secure Connections
Be cautious of random or obscure links — these could lead to dangerous or malicious websites. Unlike the clear web, where websites are often rated or reviewed, most dark web sites are unregulated. ExpressVPN is my top recommendation for Tor VPNs because it’s fast, easy to use, and its no-logs policy has been independently audited and confirmed by third-party cybersecurity experts. It also provides super-fast speeds, and its no-logs policy has been independently audited and confirmed — this way, you know it doesn’t store any user data. Malicious links, phishing traps, and fake sites designed to steal your data are very common.
- "Privacy is not a luxury—it’s a right." — Edward Snowden
- Let’s look at two popular browsers you can use to access the dark web on desktop computers and laptops.
- Library Genesis offers a search engine for collections of books on such topics as computers, business, technology, and more.
- When accessing the dark web, the first step is to install a dark web-friendly browser on your computer.
This anonymity is precisely what makes the dark web attractive to cybercriminals—and dangerous for unsuspecting users. Because transactions are typically conducted using cryptocurrencies and encrypted communication channels, tracing these activities is notoriously difficult. While the dark web can serve legitimate purposes—like preserving anonymity for whistleblowers or journalists—it’s also a hotbed for illicit activity. Rather, you’ll need to visit dark web aggregators that share links to various pages, or wikis where users can add dark web links manually.
Home Users
The deep web consists of unindexed content not accessible via standard search engines. This is the publicly accessible portion of the internet that can be indexed by search engines. You can still be tracked at network entry and exit nodes, as indicated by reports that police identified Tor users by surveilling data centers. The deep web is the next layer, and it encompasses a massive amount of online data that is not available for public consumption and not indexed by clear web search engines. The clear web is made up of websites that you can get to via a search engine like Ecosia or Google. That’s why I’m not going to provide links or detailed instructions for accessing the internet’s shadier side.
All you have to do is replace ".onion" at the end of the onion URL with ".onion.to", ".onion.city", ".onion.cab", or ".onion.direct" and you should be good to go. Tor2Web is a rather popular proxy that works with the Tor network. You typically can't access them from everyday browsers like Chrome, Edge, or Safari. It's the tradeoff for the anonymity Tor provides.
There are several whistleblower sites, including a dark web version of Wikileaks. There are a variety of private and encrypted email services, instructions for installing an anonymous operating system and advanced tips for the privacy-conscious. The Tor network began as an anonymous communications channel, and it still serves a valuable purpose in helping people communicate in environments that are hostile to free speech. We don’t want to leave you with the impression that everything on the dark web is nefarious or illegal.
Use VPN, avoid logging into personal accounts, enable Tor security settings, and stick to trusted sites. While difficult, tracking is possible if security measures are misconfigured or if users reveal personal information. Check onion links through trusted directories, user reviews, and reputation checks. Secure communication for journalists, accessing privacy-focused forums, and whistleblower submissions. Avoid sharing personal information, downloading unknown files, and engaging in illegal services.
