After a couple of shots of "gut-rot" bourbon and a few pints of cheap ale at happy hour yesterday, my "non-techie"  friends starting asking me some random-ass questions about the **"The Dark Web!"**

I don't know how or why this even came up! And I'm way too hungover to try to remember! I'm assuming though, it's because they think I know ALL of the shady shit that goes on over the internet!

**DEFINITELY NOT TRUE!...I'm innocent.. I swear!**

But I do know a few things. Some things I wish I didn't know. But hell, I figure since the topic came up, why not post about it right?

# CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER

People these days are becoming more and more fascinated, well... more like curious, about cyber issues. Maybe it's because of (kick-ass) shows like "Mr. Robot" and "Scorpion." 

<center>![Mr-Robot-620x330.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRkUhpo5AEWFQuJ7jLu7VKNA3uJtL4N6v9pgUtSfggQSu/Mr-Robot-620x330.jpg)</center>
 
Now interest in "legal hacking" careers (like mine), have risen about 40% over the past 2 years (also meaning more competition for me... damn it!).

So with all this interest, the **Deep** and **Dark** Web are starting to become more  a "thing" in the civilian world. 

The problem is: NO ONE REALLY KNOWS WHAT THESE TERMS ACTUALLY MEAN!

So here goes. But first:


### "Before I open Pandora's sexy, little well trimmed box, I want to be very clear on something y'all. The Dark Web isn't something to toy with ok? A lot of things can (and usually do) go wrong. So, for your own protection (cause there's always that one person), I'm not going to show any details on how to access the the dark web stuff. Trust me, some boxes should stay shut!"

https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAdlAAAAJDI5NjVhZDI2LTA1ZDYtNGFkZi04ZTcxLThlY2RmOTJhNTQ2ZQ.jpg

# DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

The best way to explain the Deep and Dark web would be to first start with a basic understanding of the internet itself. 

There are basically **3 levels** of searching:

### THE SURFACE WORLD: BASIC WEB

* Your looking for a place to buy expensive-ass smoothies. 
* You go to a search engine like Google. 
* Google does the hard work for you. 
* "TAADAA!" You get your expensive-ass smoothie!

Google searches through thousands of links to find what you are looking for. 

This is basically surface level knowledge of the internet. And honestly, for day to day use, it's really all the average persons' needs. 

### THE DEEP WEB: GOING DEEPER
But there might be a point where the site or page you're looking for isn't found by Google's crawlers.

**(Crawlers are... you know what... just click [HERE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler) if need an explanation).**

So what do you do?

Well, conventional browsers (**Firefox, Chrome, I.E.**) aren't going to help. You need to use whats known as a...

***TOR Browser***

[![tor.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUkPHRJmX5RMCZM9tUc9Bqy7tUYR3fR7EeaCXVyoGzWAP/tor.jpg)](https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en)
**(Click the image if you want to download... but highly recommend you finish the post first)**

*So what the hell is a Tor Browser?*

Rather than make you fine folks actually read more, Here's a nice simple video for you by a weirdly excited guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlP1JrfvUo0

If you watched the video, you have an idea of how the browser works. And also, why this is called the "Deep Web." 

Overall, the deep web is pretty harmless. 

Which leads us to...

### THE DARK WEB: THE NINTH CIRCLE OF HELL
<center>http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/someordinarygamers/images/f/f1/Do-Not-Enter-Danger-Sign-S-0898.gif/revision/latest?cb=20130921151710</center>

There have been MANY rumors about the notorious "Dark Web" for years now. The "Boogie Man" of the internet as it's called by my friends. 

The place where you can:

* Buy illegal guns and drugs
* Find "secret" government files
* Weird sexual "outlets" 
* Human experimentation
* Hackers

You can even **hire fucking assassins** through this thing. 

<center>![alicex.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQ6VpsNNSBCvNb5GWeNrHyEw8A3dU9yDyf22XK7baE3zx/alicex.jpg)</center>

<center>**This is no joke! This is where shit gets real! I don't recommend messing with this stuff AT ALL!**</center>

It's not just soul crushing and mind scarring in terms of what you'll find, there is a **legitimate risk to your own network security.** And believe when I say, the rewards are not worth the risk!... Not even close!

# LETS WRAP THIS UP

Here is a graph that will simply things for you:

![The Deep Web.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmaszBQ5ZM1yFS1eLtrpPvGe7zdC7yFHZnAsGfQS4Jjkq4/The%20Deep%20Web.jpg)

Again, the point of this post is just to make these terms a little more clear. 

So this is where I wash my hands of this. What you do with the information, like anything in life, is completely on you! 

**Keep the shenanigans to a minimum my pets, and you will live happy, untainted lives!**