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10 Best Dark Websites: How to Access Them Safely

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The internet is a vast place, so vast that some information passes under your nose without you sniffing a smell. The internet is designed to help you get what you want but only when you look in the right places.

One of the places where you find answers is - the deep web. Yes, you read that well! The dark web, which is a subsection of the deep web, has provided answers that many people can't access on the surface web.

There are indeed a lot of illegal activities like child pornography, illegal goods, and identity theft on the dark web.

However, you can remember the public cry of Edward Snowden against the US government regarding internet users' privacy. This web has been a voice to the voiceless and has helped expose the seemingly powerful ones.

Even some law enforcement agencies go to these darknet websites to get answers for a puzzling crime. Like most objects and tools, the users of dark webs are the issue, not the dark web itself.

Though the dark web may not be public, it is safe to say that it has significant uses.

Top 10 Dark Websites that You can Visit

Dark websites cannot be accessed without special onion sites. Together with a Tor browser and VPN, these onion sites provide a form of protection against the dangerous adventure that lies therein.

Let's dive together into the deepest part of the web, and we will show you how to keep yourself safe while using the 10 best dark webs in 2021.

Duckduckgo

Looking for information on most surface search engines is not private. These search engines use the search history and the information you asked for to personalize data, target ads, and even monitor your browsing history.

DuckDuckgo, on the other hand, is a different type of search engine. Anyone can anonymously search and surf through the internet without fear of being monitored with this engine.

DuckDuckgo is the most used private search engine in the world. The most exciting part is that it is also available on the surface web. With a VPN, it doesn't record search history or use ad trackers. It can provide decent hidden answers to any questions asked without collecting or sharing personal data.

A lot of dark web users trust this platform. The degree of privacy provided by this website makes it the default search engine on the TOR browser. It provides an extra level of protection and anonymity for its users through its onion sites.

Just from the name, you should have guessed the use of this dark web. Yes! You're right! It is the dark version of Wikipedia.

Dark websites typically don't have a proper description like surface ones. They are often more ambiguous. What Hiddenwiki website does is provide better onion directory links that most dark websites cannot provide.

Hiddenwiki is an excellent place to start an adventure through the dark web. There are numerous onion links to various dark websites, and it can get scary when you venture into forbidden lands.

Some legal information is present in the provided links or domains on Hiddenwiki. However, certain website links, especially whistleblowers, are monitored for censorship by law enforcement agencies. You will find both legal and illegal links when surfing through the website.

When using Hiddenwiki, a device with good encryption, onion routers, or Tor browser is the most basic of needs. There are many counterfeit or makeshift Hiddenwiki on the dark web.

When unsuspecting user ventures into any of these websites, they can be attacked by malware or cybercriminals.

Daniel, as a dark website, has one of the most impressively categorized onion links. It has a categorized.onion link of over 7,000.

An exciting feature that this dark web website has is that it tells its user if a specific darknet website is accessible at a time or not.

Users of this website must be extremely cautious as it provides hosting to many illegal sites, cybercriminals, illegal pornography e.t.c.

The dark websites host only recently recovered from a cyber attack by hackers. It is only wiser for anyone who intends to use the site for any reason to properly secure its IP address and information through a VPN (that has passed the Tor metrics) and a good Tor browser. You keep your data safe this way in the case of any data leak.

Propublica

Anyone who cares about humanity and equality will give this dark web quite a recognition for what it has achieved so far with its investigative journalism.

ProPublica is available on both the surface websites and on the dark webs. It is a haven for journalists who are under a form of government oppression of some kind.

In 2016, when the .onion domain was first launched, ProPublica won five Pulitzers for its online publication published in either English or Spanish. The website's availability in onion sites has made it possible for anyone to publish or report incidents anonymously without being traced.

ProPublica is one of the many good things that the dark web offers in times like this. The website has a great history of covering dust-raising topics through whistleblowers who ordinarily would have received a lot of backlash or threats if published in one of the surface websites.

Searx

SearX is somehow similar to DuckDuckgo. However, it is a metasearch engine where keywords present in your search are submitted via HTTP posts to avoid the accumulation of specific keywords in the server log of your browser.

Indirect profiling of search engine users is avoided when using SearX. Apart from keeping your IP address and search history safe, SearX doesn't keep search history logs or cookies.

Unlike most search engines on the dark web, SearX can answer some queries with videos, images, maps, and some social media posts in detail.

Securedrop

Things go wrong in the world, and the government is involved in the pool of mess. It takes brave individuals to stand up against them and show them how wrong they are. These people most times need to preserve and protect their identity: This is where SecureDrop comes in.

Like ProPublica, SecureDrop is a meeting point for whistleblowers and journalists without being tracked or monitored by the government or a company. Often, the information shared is so sensitive that it can land either party in jail for being in the custody of it.

However, it doesn't have the power to publish any of the information shared. The .onion sites of SecureDrop are not currently reachable. The ones made available by some journalists or other sites are not reliable. Therefore, it is advisable to use your sixth sense when trying to use any of it.

facebook

For a company that collects its user's data, providing a mirror .onion site looks disturbing and surprising. Although it has not willingly shared user data, Facebook has a scary habit of collecting data of its users.

Even with the .onion site, Facebook has still refused to grant dark web users total anonymity. Although, the features of its dark websites are interesting.

Facebook's onion link allows its users to surf through the Facebook options that were ordinarily made available in certain countries. The user can evade the company's censorship.

On the other hand, it will be difficult for a third party to trace your activity across the app. Therefore, to an extent, a level of privacy is guaranteed since your profile can anonymously use the app without other people (except for Facebook itself) tracing it back to you.

For anyone who wants to understand the corners of the dark web, this site is an excellent place to start because you can ask questions from first-hand users.

Imagine a Quora or Reddit website where every question can be asked without getting censored, reported, or attacked by netizens. Yes? That is why dark web users created Hidden Answers.

However, since the dark web is an unfiltered part of the web, as long as you still retain some drops of morality, you may still find this onion site disturbing.

All forms of questions are asked and answered on Hidden Answers from sex and sexuality down to the most controversial topics. On this site, every user remains anonymous.

This website will interest you as a science enthusiast who needs to pay before getting access to certain discoveries or needs access to research that the government bans because it exposes their involvement in something sinister.

Sci-hub is a site that aims to make research, inventions, and scientific breakthroughs available to everyone at no cost.

The database of this dark website contains and has made available all forms of countless scientific research documents. Some of these documents were generally hoarded by specific scientific organizations, banned by the government, or tagged with exorbitant prices by specific individuals before accessing them.

Zerobin

Sharing content that you discover on the dark web with users on the surface web can be a hassle. The question that first pops up is, where will they think I got this? What if I got arrested?.

ZeroBin has provided complete end-to-end encryption that protects the source of any information from the dark web. It is very reliable and hitch-free.

Users of ZeroBin simply copy the text, video, image, or any format information and send it to the receiver. As long as ZeroBin is used together with a good VPN and TOR browser, ZeroBin itself can't see the content of the message you sent.

How will I Know Bad Dark Web Links?

Usually, the most dangerous links like those where assassins are hired on dark webs do not have easily accessible links flying around. They are so closely guarded that you need some kind of referral to enter.

However, it does not mean some other criminal links are not around the darknet websites. The only safe way to avoid them is simply to use the dark web to access what you want and then leave.

Do not click unreasonable links that contain malware, viruses and make your device vulnerable.

Can iPhone or Android Devices access the Dark Web?

Definitely! However, like all devices, there is a need to be cautious when using the dark web.

The Tor browser that grants access to the dark website is available on Android devices. On iPhones, on the other hand, there is a need for third-party authentication.

The onion browser and dark browsers which are available on app stores are applications with a better alternative. These applications are compatible with Tor networks and are adequately encrypted.

Since iOS doesn't support Tor browsers or the dark web directly, the use of third-party browsers is not advisable for iPhone users. Third-party browsers have different terms and conditions. Some of them may reserve the right to access their browsing history and privacy.

TOR in phone

Therefore, any dark web user can access it with Mac, Android, Linux, or Windows. Using it with an iPhone cannot be stated as safe.

Staying Safe on Dark Websites

Using the TOR browser and a premium VPN together is the safest way to use dark websites. Accessing the TOR network has provided a level of protection for dark web .onion sites.

The government and most internet service providers (ISP) know when anyone uses TOR. However, they frown at the use of TOR since it is associated with many illegal activities.

Sometimes, using the Tor and VPN networks may not be enough. There are skilled hackers with the government and criminal groups on dark webs. So, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Therefore, apart from the highlight above, here are some steps that will be useful in keeping you safe on the dark web.

Don't download

Unless otherwise necessary, do not download any file from the dark web. Nearly all files on the dark web contain malware, trackers, and viruses.

If there is any reason to download a file, download them on the internet cloud and use an excellent antivirus. Also, stop the itchy hands and don't click every link you see on the dark web.

Make payment with caution

When making payments on dark webs, make payments with cryptocurrencies that cannot be easily traced. If you don't have a crypto wallet, make sure you use a credit card that cannot be traced.

Create a disposable e-mail

Open an email with your VPN on fake names, fake images, fake locations, and entirely fake details. So, if there is any reason to get to you through your mail or your downloaded document on clouds or drive, the information provided is not accurate.

Separate your real identity from the Online

The dark web is not social media. Being a mister nice guy in real life doesn't entirely work there. Even for investigative journalists, extreme caution must be taken. Don't fall into emotional entanglement. Access the information required and get out.

What are Onion Websites?

Onion websites are network services that dark web users can only access through the Tor browser. They are used for various reasons. But most times, it is often used to guarantee safety and privacy when surfing through uncharted territories on the internet.

Onion websites are complicated to track. Users of this site need to access it organically, not through a search engine as often used on the surface web. When used with VPN, The TOR network provides a level of security that can only be rivaled when the best of specialists or hackers are employed.

It works in a way whereby both the TOR client and the servers are guaranteed anonymity.

How to find good .onion sites?

The best way to find good .onion sites is through the private search engines on the dark web. Sometimes, these search engines bring results, links to dead or inactive sites, illegal ones, and reasonable ones.

Can the dark web be accessed with a VPN?

VPNs are pretty helpful in providing a layer of protection for dark web users. The exit and entry nodes of Tor browsers are sometimes malicious. On each node, there is a possibility of being tracked down through your IP address.

A method of combining VPN and TOR browser to access the internet is called TOR over VPN. The TOR browser provides onion-like encryption, while the VPN makes your IP address and location untraceable.

Is it Illegal to Use TOR Websites?

No, it is not! As stated earlier, using TOR websites is not illegal, but things done on them can be.

Since these various forms of illegal activities cannot be lacking on the dark web, getting involved in them can be dangerous. The governments of many nations have various software that monitors activities on the dark web.

Getting involved in any of these illegal activities can be jaw-wrenching in the long run.

Is the Dark Web full of Illegal Websites?

There are a lot of illegal websites and activities on the dark web. If you are not careful, you can easily be a victim of these activities.

In 2015, a group of researchers in King's College London researched over 2,700 dark websites and concluded that 57 percent of these websites contain illegal materials or run illegal activities. For research done about six years ago, you can guess how exponentially the percentage would have increased.

On the dark web, the users can buy things like cocaine, stolen credit cards, human body parts, fake IDs, and a long list of all you think of as illegal. However, it does not mean there are no good and legal uses of the dark web.

How Good are the Dark Web Search Engines?

The search engines available on the dark web can get information that you cannot possibly get on the surface web.

DuckDuckgo and SearX are search engines that can help their users make queries and get decent or detailed answers without storing any of their data.

Deep Web vs. Dark Web: What is the Difference?

The deep web is the largest part of the worldwide web(www) and contains information that ordinarily cannot be accessed by the surface web.

The deep web contains benign sites like password-protected Netflix or Gmail accounts. It is about 400 times larger than the surface web.

Ironically, most of the world's internet users are present on the smaller fraction - the surface web. The dark web is smaller than the surface web.

Hence, it is far smaller than the deep web. The dark web is a part of the deep web and serves as home to every form of expression restricted by law or oppression.

Therefore, it is safe to say that the dark web is a small fraction of the deep web. Although writers may use the words interchangeably, the sheer size of the deep web is so much of a contrast to ignore.

Conclusion

Since the early use of the dark web in 2004, there have been recurring histories of crimes and even death. These long histories do not look to be slowing down anytime soon.

Therefore, we advise every user on dark websites to be extremely careful. If your instincts tell you something is wrong, then it is most likely very wrong.

Don't access the dark web without antivirus software, good firewalls, and VPN. It is at your detriment to access the Tor websites without any of these protections.

By: Michael Miller
Michael is the CEO of VPN Online, one of the fastest-growing media companies in the cyber-security space. VPN Online was started in 2019 after Michael consulted with many Fortune 500 companies and saw the lack of understanding about cybersecurity many of their employees had.