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What is the dark web? Here’s what you need to know

Your simple guide to the dark web, and how to protect your identity from being stolen by criminals.

21 July 2022Tassie Milne 3 min read
Laptop screen covered in lines of code
Image by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Want to protect your identity?

See if your passwords have been leaked on the dark web by activating ClearScore Protect for free now.

Discover ClearScore Protect

You’ve probably heard of the dark web. Known as “the eBay of the underworld” and the “back alley of the internet”, it’s a hotbed of criminal activity – a place where people buy drugs, guns and credit card details.

But what exactly is it, how does it work, and how can you make sure your details don’t end up there?

There’s more to the internet than meets the surface.

For most of us, the internet consists of whatever we can find using search engines like Google – this is known as the surface web. But the surface web is estimated to only contain around 4% of all online content. So where is the other 96%?

Beneath the surface web lies the deep web. The deep web contains all the content that doesn’t show up in search results, for example, your work intranet, your online chequing account, and government documents. We use the deep web all the time, though you might not know it. Every time you log in to an online account, you’re accessing the deep web.

While most (if not all) of this content is perfectly legal, it’s classified information that isn’t meant for public access. For this reason, it’s hidden from search engines’ results.

But there’s more. Beneath the deep web lies the dark web: the internet’s secret underside.

The dark web is a series of private networks that can only be accessed via special software. The most common software is called “Tor” (The Onion Router). This is why dark websites are accessed using Tor end in ".onion" instead of ".com".

When people use the dark web, their location and usage is concealed. It was actually invented by the US government as a way to help their own spies remain untraceable. However, due to its anonymity, it’s become a popular playground for criminal activity.

Criminals use the dark web as a marketplace for selling anything and everything illegal: drugs, weapons, illicit pornography, people’s personal information, and more. The most famous of these marketplaces was called Silk Road (this was taken down by authorities in 2013).

However, it’s important to note that the dark web isn’t only used for criminal activity. It’s also used by whistleblowers, activists and political dissidents to discuss things in secret.

When a hacker steals your personal information (and there are many ways they can do this), the dark web is where it ends up being sold and potentially used to commit identity fraud.

While credit card details are the most commonly traded, fraudsters also sell login details to Netflix, Uber and Spotify accounts for as little as £5. Hackers will trade your social media passwords, PayPal login details and even online dating profiles (although these aren’t worth very much).

Some dark websites specialise in stitching together all of your stolen details to create a ‘fullz’ (scammer slang for a full identify package). If a scammer has a full identity set with all your details and passwords, it could cost around £800.

Once someone has bought your personal details, they’re then ready to commit identity fraud.

There are many ways they could do this: opening credit cards and loans in your name, buying goods with your money, or committing other crimes and reporting your name to the police.

The impact of this can be wide-reaching: your chequing account could be cleared, your credit score could be damaged, or you could be arrested for crimes you didn’t commit.

Resolving this kind fraud can take up a significant amount of your time and money. That’s not to mention the emotional impact identity fraud can have - victims often end up feeling isolated, embarrassed and scared of using the internet.

Even the most careful people aren’t immune to their identity becoming available online, especially with large-scale company data breaches becoming more common and scammers becoming more sophisticated.

That’s why we created ClearScore Protect: so your identity stays protected. Every three months, we’ll scan the dark web (as well as the deep web and surface web!) to see if your passwords have been stolen.

If we find anything, we’ll let you know, so you can take action, change your passwords and prevent further damage.


Tassie Milne Image

Written by Tassie Milne

General Manager - ClearScore Canada

Tassie heads up ClearScore Canada. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two young boys. In her free time, she can be found at the family lake house or playing ball hockey.