Seventeenth Blog

The deep web – everything you see on the internet merely makes up a superficial layer. At least, everything that is indexed by common search engines such as google. It’s known as the surface web, the tip of an iceberg one might say, and below its neck an incomprehensible mass of data. Most of it is pretty much a virtual hybrid of a dump yard and storage room. Every byte of data that passes through cyberspace is indexed on a hard drive – data for operational and “deleted” websites, communications, confidential information, you name it.

Here is where the crypto-anarchists provide a voice to be reckoned with. The cyber wealth is so vast that no single agency can hold it under its thumb. Provided you are not followed, you are pretty much free to do as you please. It makes a rallying point for libertarians and human rights activists – underground political and paramilitary freedom-fighters have been known to share communicate with each other through the deep web away from prying eyes, and that is how ill regimes and businesses can fall. Hacktivists and whistlebolowers, rejoice!

Free, however, should never be universally construed to mean good. Remember what I said about confidential information? It does not just include evil secrets that tyrannical regimes hide – it also includes information held on us by our governing agencies and businesses. As in your passwords, bank account, security, medical, and financial information. Just imagine if the wrong person got a hold of that. The deep web is also a nest for criminals – drug lords and arms dealers. The now defunct Silk Road and (current activity unknown) Armory served as Amazons respectively for any drug and firearm that is out there, with bitcoin as a currency.

Do you remember what I said about being followed? Believe me, if you are mad enough to enter the deep web, you will, at every cost, want to make sure that you have the perfect software for browsing it. One plug-in out of place, somebody can triangulate your signal to your physical location or plant a Remote Access Trojan on your computer. In the latter case, they have access to and control over every single thing on your computer – hard drive, screen, and webcam. Just imagine what an extortionist or a pervert can do with all of that. I have not even scratched the surface in terms of crime. It’s not about the goods, but the services you can get there – child pornography, paid assassinations, animal torture, murder rings – basically any nightmare you can imagine.

The deep web is a liberating tool – pursuit and surveillance are power. Unrestrained by it, you can set a new destiny for yourself or for others. Tyrants can be brought down from underneath. Freedom, however, also allows us to release the worst demons of our nature.