Introduction
You might encounter some peoples telling about deep web and dark web and everything bad hide in there, like cybercrime, drugs sells, and illegal things, or even storing some weird creepypasta videos. But, what actually are they?
Web consist of 3 parts, that often showed with the image of iceberg, like this image below.
To further know what are their differences, it's better to know what is exactly those parts illustrated in the image.
Surface Web
Surface web, sometimes called indexable website, is the part of web which can be indexed by the search engine, like Google and Bing. It means, those website will shows up if we type the keyword or some of its content in the search engine. There are many webpage that is indexed, probably more than a billion pages. But, it just a small part of the web in the internet. Some sources said it just around 4% of the internet.
Deep Web
Deep web, is the part of web which can not be indexed by the search engine. Deep web consists of webpage that need authentication or paywall to access. Most of the websites we accessed everyday are deep web, since some of them need authentication to access and use. Some sources even said it covers 96% of the internet. Although, I'm not really sure about it, but you get the idea about how large is the deep web than the surface web.
One example of the deep web is your post in Instagram. Nobody can access it by just using search engine. But, a public Pinterest post is considered a part of surface web, because it can be indexed by search engine. Another example of deep web are your chat page, your bank transaction page, and the user setting page in a website. Simply, if you can not find the webpage on the search engine or you need to login to access the webpage, it's considered to be the part of the deep web.
Deep web itself commonly to be misunderstood by peoples to be the same as dark web, since both can not be accessed through search engine. But, what is the dark web itself? Let's read the next section.
Dark Web
Dark web, is the part of web which not only can not be indexed by the search engine, but also needs anonymity to access. Simply said, dark web is a deep web that requires anonymity and special network to enter. Dark web is just a very small part in the deep web.
The content in the dark web itself basically the same like in the surface web or deep web. The reason why some peoples think dark web is bad are caused by the misuse of it by some peoples for illegal activity. Some examples are drugs and illegal weapon selling. They use it because dark web provide anonymity for them to hide their activity from laws.
One way to access the dark web is by using TOR connection.
By using TOR connection, we are not only become anonymous, but also can access websites with .onion domain.
This post only for educational purpose. Any action or misuse you did in there, is not my responsibility. It is better to learn more about dark web before process to enter it, since it is a bit different from other web and there are some cybercrime hide in there.
Never shares your sensitive information, especially to untrusted websites you found in there to prevent you from cybercrime, such as scams and phising.
Is Dark Web Really That Scary?
No. It just the same like other web. It does have scary and illegal things, but surface web and deep web also have that. How did I know it? Well, I have been accessed it previously. But it is better to stay safe, since the dark web has more cybercrimes than in the normal deep web.
BONUS: Mariana Web
It is a fictious part of web that claimed by some peoples to be the deepest one. It's name comes from Mariana Trench, which is the deepest place in the world (around 11,000 km below the sea level). It even believed to contain military and government secrets.
Conclusion
The web is divided by how they can be accessed through the search engine. The deep web and the dark web are the web which cannot be accessed by search engine. Dark web itself just a part of deep web, which means the deep web are not equally the same as dark web.