Surface web, deep web and dark web explained. Things to know

We all use the internet regularly, and open our favorite sites for entertainment, work, and for a number of other purposes. Being a netizen, you should know, the different types of websites, which we visit regularly. The part most users visit regularly might account for only a few percents of the websites, which are currently on the web. We visit the websites, which are important only to us. But there are even some websites, which we do not visit. We do not visit those websites not because we do not need them, but also for the fact, we do not have proper permissions to open those websites.

Depending upon the functionalities of different websites, and the permissions, we have, the web is divided into 3 parts, namely the Surface web, the deep web, and dark web. I will discuss all the three categories of the websites here so that you can become a more knowledgeable netizen, if not more. But before diving into the discussion, I will briefly describe the three categories of the web, if you are not into knowing the details about them. Depending upon the access permissions, there is surface web, and deep web, where everybody has access to the former, but a limited set of users can get access to the later. Dark web is the dark side of the internet, and the term is somewhat self-explanatory.

Difference between Surface web, Deep web and dark web

Surface web

In technical terms, the surface web definition is that part of the web, which we can find in our favorite search engines. How2shout.com is an example. In simple terms, different search engines can crawl into the surface websites. All the favorite websites we visit, which include Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, news sites, shopping websites, etc. are the few examples of surface web.

But according to a statistics, surface web accounts for only 4% of the websites, which are present. Thus, the websites we visit, or the surface web size is very limited, and the surface web percentage is even less than 10%. But as surface websites are known to all, and have indexes in different search engines, such websites typically record the highest traffic.

Deep web

Moving a little deeper, deep web is that part of the web, which we or most normal people do not have access to. It is one of the hidden parts of the internet. Moreover, the search engines too, can’t crawl through those websites. Deep websites are those websites, which has data about numerous government or defense organizations, which can lead to a data breach if the normal public gets access to it. Hope, what is found in the deep web, is clear to you now.

Talking about Deep web examples, it also has data about our bank accounts and different organizations. You have to hold an account in a bank to log in, or should be an employee of an organization to see the secret things of an organization. Search engines cannot index them in their search results. Thus, if you want to know how to access the deep web, the answer is, you should be associated with the organization participating in a deep web. Either in some way or the other. Thus, in a nutshell, deep web consists of some organization-specific data. As those websites are deeper from the reach of the search engines, they are called deep websites.

Many users might think, is the deep web safe, or is the deep web illegal? The deep web is safe, as long as you are accessing the deep web with proper permissions or appropriate credentials.

Dark web

As the name suggests, the dark web is the dark part of the web. Yes, it is indeed dark. According to the dark web definition, it is the web, which is typically known for carrying out dark activities like illegal drug trafficking, hiring assassins, or similar other activities. On the dark web, you can even find stolen goods, and the transactions take place through cryptocurrencies. Yes, like Bitcoins. Accessing the dark web can land you behind the bars, and if you are reading this article, stay away from the dark web.

Don’t worry! You will never visit dark web mistakenly. Dark websites cannot be accessed through regular browsers, as they come with onion extensions, which can be accessed through particular web browsers like the Tor Browser, Freenet, I2P, etc. Just like deep websites, dark websites are not indexed by search engines, and in most cases, they are locally hosted. Locally hosted refer to the fact, the owners of the dark websites do not use any third party hosting platform to host their servers. They typically use in-house servers, which make it difficult to track by government organizations, in case of any misdoings.

The user needs to know the exact address of the dark websites in order to access them. It means unless you mistakenly type the website of the dark website, and that too from a Tor network or any other browsers, chances are less, you will get landed on a dark website.

But why to avoid dark web? Will just landing to a dark web make you a criminal? The answer to this question is pretty cynical. None of the governing bodies have control over, how the dark web collect data about the visitors. Thus, you never know, you can be a victim of the dark web tomorrow. As long as you are just visiting a dark website, and is not doing something illegal, you are on the safer side. No, not completely safe though. But, I will recommend you to be away from those websites. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Hope the differences between surface web, deep web and dark web is known to you know. After knowing how much of the internet is surface web, you might think yourself to be a frog within the well. But it is not so. It is after all the brightest part of the web. Still, have questions? Surely let me know about it, in the comment section down below.

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