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• Whistleblowers: Information can be passed on to journalists anonymously without fear of
censorship or retribution.

• Security Departments: Police all over the globe are using it to go undercover and dig
through seized data in order to find and convict Dark Web criminals.

Bad:

• Criminal gangs: The Dark Web facilitates criminal activity, including counterfeit
documents, gun trading, sale of drugs, child pornography, and much more.

• Terrorists: Terrorist groups, like ISIS, utilize the Dark Web to communicate plans and
share intelligence.

• Child pornographers: One of the uses of the Dark Web is the distribution of child abuse
content.

CONCLUSION

The Dark Web then is classified as a small portion of the Deep Web that has been intentionally
hidden and is inaccessible through standard web browsers.

TOR’s anonymizing functions are critically important to people who rely on it to discuss sensitive
topics but at the same time can be used by criminals for nefarious purposes.

Furthermore, the debate over how much illegal activity should be allowed to maintain Tor’s
positive benefits, is there a way to unmask illicit activity without compromising the security that
makes the dark web work and how much light should be shone into the dark web is an ongoing
topic of discussion.

Nevertheless, all I can say is, we are all fish, and it is in our hands to choose the kind of waters
we want to swim in.

About The Author

Sarosh Petkar is a BS/MS student of the RIT Computing Security
department. He is currently pursuing his summer internship with Veritas
in Mountain View, CA and has previously worked with Covermymeds in
Columbus, OH. His interests include reverse engineering, network
security and cryptography.

Sarosh Petkar can be reached online at [email protected]

78 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – July 2017 Edition
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