Accessing the dark web may not be illegal in most areas, but you should be prepared for the chance of encountering illegal/harmful content. If you follow these steps, you will have an excellent chance of being able to explore “safe” dark web content that poses minimal risk to yourself. In this article, we share our list of the 28 best dark web sites today, which include verified, trusted, and safe options to use when exploring the Dark Web. It could initially look abandoned, but the community members answered questions in the end. It served as a great place to learn more about it for people new to the dark web.
News & Media
Unlike Ahmia, Torch does not function as an engine that actively filters dangerous material and illegal content. Thus, it is critical that users actively monitor themselves against exposure to any potentially compromising material returned by Torch. The dark web brings to mind visions of dark deals and shady places to buy and sell things. However, most are outdated and have not kept up with the changing landscape.
- Accidental leaks at the Tor entry nodes can potentially expose your IP address.
- According to our research, a small independent team of cybsersecurity researchers maintains OnionFind and it relies on donations for maintaining the service and running its servers.
- Estimates place the size of the deep web at between 96% and 99% of the internet.
- Most dark web websites are in English; according to one estimate, a staggering 78% of information on the dark web is in English.
Update your Tor Browser
Please be aware that accessing and using .onion sites comes with risks and legal implications. Use these resources responsibly and be cautious of potential security threats. DuckDuckGo is built into the Tor browser, making it a convenient option for looking up dark web websites. However, before you start your search, toggle the button beside “Onionize” to anonymize your session.
Does using cryptocurrency make dark web activity anonymous?
Archive.today is considered an important tool to track changes across government and corporate websites, preserve cultural heritage, and keep knowledge outside of autocrats’ reach. You can archive any site you want, or retrieve historical records wherever available. Where x, y, width, and height are relative to the image’s width and height. To generate these file we will run the voc_label.py script in Darknet’s scripts/ directory.
Explore the dark web more securely with a VPN
Tor, or “The Onion Router” is by far the largest of these darknets. The BBC’s international edition Tor version is available on the dark web, giving access to unbiased news in regions where the BBC is blocked or censored. Feather is a free and open source Monero wallet available on most major computer platforms. Monero is a crypto currency that can be used to conduct transactions anonymously on a peer to peer level without any centralized authority watching over..
What Are Dark Web Links?
Ethical hackers use dark web search engines to find leaked credentials for authorized testing. Real-world attackers start with credential stuffing, so penetration testers should too. Finding actual leaked passwords demonstrates risk more effectively than theoretical vulnerabilities. Onion sites are websites on the dark web that use the “.onion” top-level domain instead of “.com,” “.net,” “.gov,” etc. Onion sites use The Onion Router (Tor) software to encrypt their connections and enable anonymous communication. They also hide their location, ownership, and other identifiers.
What Is the Surface Web?
If your information has been compromised, then it’s likely that your phone number is also on the dark web. Alternatively, users can connect in opennet mode, which automatically assigns peers on the network. Unlike darknet mode, opennet uses a handful of centralized servers in addition to the decentralized peer-to-peer network. Based on Firefox, the Tor Browser lets you surf the clear and dark web. All your traffic is automatically routed through the Tor Network. Ensure you download the Tor Browser from the official website to avoid downloading malware, spyware, or other viruses to your device.
- Onion sites, or dark web websites, are sites on the dark web that can typically only be accessed using special software like the Tor browser.
- People in countries with heavy internet censorship must get a VPN or Tor browser to access the surface web.
- To find .onion links for dark web sites, you’ll need to use a dark web search engine.
- However, if you want unfiltered and uncensored search results you can try Torch.
- Similarly, unless you’re using a VPN, your IP address will be visible to the first relay node you connect to.
Avira Internet Security
I2P, or the Invisible Internet Project, allows you to access the ordinary and dark web. Specifically, the I2P darknet is accessible, while the Tor network is accessible through the Orchid Outproxy Tor plugin. Think of Tor as a regular browser like Firefox, Google, or Safari. The only difference is that it passes your traffic through random nodes before reaching the destination.
Deep Search
Unlike the surface web, you can’t browse the dark web using traditional search engines like Google or Bing. Alternative dark web search engines exist, but they’re often incomplete — dark web sites can’t be crawled and indexed like on the surface web — and could expose you to malicious or illegal content. To find .onion links for dark web sites, you’ll need to use a dark web search engine. Many of them are safe for beginners to use since they filter out dangerous/illegal content to only provide safe .onion links. My favorites are DuckDuckGo (usually the Tor browser’s default search engine), The Hidden Wiki, and Ahmia. To protect your data from the websites you visit, one of the most effective steps is to hide your IP address, which can reveal your location, identity, and browsing habits.
FAQs about the dark web and the websites that live on it
Encrypted communication channels on the dark web allow users to message back and forth in an anonymous online environment. However, some surface web platforms like ProtonMail offer encrypted email services in addition to dark web versions that enable people residing in more repressive areas to communicate freely. Dark web browsing is not as simple as regular web surfing, but there are some tools you can use to chart your journey.
Instead, you need a specific configuration, software, or authorization, such as Tor, to access it. Many reputable websites and news outlets like ProPublica and SecureDrop often share official domain addresses of onion sites on their pages. Some users also share links on encrypted apps like Telegram or Keybase that you can check. Talking about copycats and potential risks, due to its high risk and low signal-to-noise ratio for legitimate content, we advise beginners and privacy-conscious users to avoid The Hidden Wiki. If you must explore sites like The Hidden Wiki, do so with extreme skepticism, never download files, never enter personal info, and never send cryptocurrency to unknown sites. AVG Secure VPN scrambles all your internet traffic and routes it through secure servers to help keep your location and identity hidden.
VPN Usage For Safety
If the connection drops, you’ll be vulnerable to attack and your data could leak into the wrong hands. CyberGhost VPNs automatic Kill Switch keeps you protected even if your connection drops unexpectedly. The only thing is, you can’t just access Riseup, you need an invitation code to set up an account. This can be a bit tricky if you don’t know anyone with an existing account. You can download thousands of free comic books from Comic Book Library and it’s a hotspot for Comic fans. You can find everything from mainstream Marvel to niche manga comics.
- The dark web didn’t start as a haven for cybercriminals – it was actually developed for a very different purpose.
- CyberGhost VPN offers an important layer of privacy and we don’t log any of your activity.
- It also includes any content that its owners have blocked web crawlers from indexing.
- Some hackers offer ransomware as a service (RaaS), where cybercriminals can “rent” a strain of ransomware from its creator in exchange for a fee or a percentage of their ransom payments.
- In short, even with Tor, there’s no perfect anonymity online, but there are efforts to claw back our power online, says Lewis.
- Standard search engines like Google index the surface web by following links and crawling pages.
Reporting of illegal content
While you’re at it, now might be a good time to check whether any of your personal information has been leaked on the dark web. Onion sites are dark web sites that can only be reached through online routing via Tor, in which encrypted data passes through multiple nodes before reaching its destination. Decrypting the data involves peeling back layer darknet link upon layer of encryption, hence the “onion” analogy. Riseup is an invite-only email and communications service that doesn’t hold onto any of the data you generate when you use it. It describes itself as a tool for social change and “a project to create democratic alternatives.” Riseup requires you to have the onion link as well as an invitation.
While this topic may seem distant for most people, understanding how these spaces operate is crucial. It helps us stay more vigilant, better protect ourselves, and make informed decisions online. Privacy advocates frown upon it because of the way it harvests data and profiles users. These concerns are valid because using Facebook undoubtedly exposes users to some of the highest levels of surveillance capitalism anywhere on the web.
The nice thing about Ahmia is that it lists .onion sites that want to be found. Many of those sites are listed because their devs have submitted the site directly to the search engine for indexing. In addition, it is worth noting that users should not blindly trust links on the Hidden Wiki because this is a community resource that anybody can update, and some of the links are malicious. As a result, it is probably a good idea to double-check and verify any onion links you find using a secondary source such as Onion Links or DarkWebPug.
How to stay safe on the dark web
The service retains no copies of any data that passes through a ProtonMail account. Although ProtonMail also exists on the clear web, accessing it via Tor provides an extra layer of privacy if you don’t want to leave a trace of you even using ProtonMail. Law enforcement agencies keep an ear to the ground on the dark web looking for stolen data from recent security breaches that might lead to a trail to the perpetrators. Many mainstream media organizations monitor whistleblower sites looking for news. If you want to learn all about privacy protection or cryptocurrency, the dark web has plenty to offer.
- After all, journalists, human rights organizations, and various other institutions maintain a Dark Web mirror of their primary indexed website.
- The BBC, among others, is blocked in countries like North Korea or China because of the government’s strict censorship policies.
- SecureDrop is one of the most reliable file-sharing sites on the deep web.
- Each one offers unique features, such as better privacy and extensive .onion site indexing.
- DarkSearch emphasizes privacy and automation, allowing access to hidden services through a web interface and a free API.
- The beginning of the dark web is generally seen as coinciding with the release of Freenet in 2000.
We also urge you to remember that there are various versions of the Hidden Wiki circulating on the dark web. The original (linked below) is still considered the most reliable, so try to avoid counterfeit versions. The Hidden Wiki is one of the easiest ways to find useful resources and websites on the Dark Web.
You don’t know what might lie behind them or whether they carry malicious payloads. The vast majority of the iceberg’s mass is unseen, it’s beneath the surface of the ocean. The deep web is all the internet’s hidden content search engines can’t index. You can’t access these .onion sites from your normal web browser like the one you’re probably viewing this page on. Before clicking any of the dark web links below, you’ll need to get the Tor Browser (also called the Onion Browser) or another service that provides dark web access, such as the Brave browser. Founded by security researcher Juha Nurmi, Ahmia is essentially a list of “hidden” sites that do want to be found.
One useful aspect of its community is that people here give warnings or alerts about upcoming scams or busts. Immediately close your entire Tor Browser window (not just that active tab). Note that engaging with the content in any way is not only distressing but could also put you at legal risk.
Different reports rank marketplaces based on varying criteria such as time period, transaction volume, or investigative relevance. Because marketplaces change frequently, rankings are rarely consistent. Dark web marketplaces discussed in 2026 are best understood as temporary systems shaped by pressure, not permanence.