Quote:
Originally Posted by wwkayaker
I didn’t know anything about the deep web and dark web. The deep web makes sense as it sounds akin to a storage room where old files no longer used are stored. The dark web is not something I have a use for but it sounds like a fascinating yet sordid place. I have always been intrigued by the mafia, underworld, drug trade, etc and this dark web sounds like a fit. I won’t be looking as I have no desire to see something I can’t unsee.
Years ago, I used torrent files to download various media. Is Tor the file structure for torrent?
I will watch the Silk Road documentary and check out the book.
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Tor used to stand for The Onion Router, but now it is just Tor.
It is not related to torrents, but is essentially a program you run on your computer where it encrypts your internet traffic and sends it along to another person running tor, which encrypts it again, and it bounces along like this for a while, each time gaining a new layer of encryption, which is where the onion part comes in.
Eventually, it either comes out at an exit node and goes to a website on the regular internet, or goes to a site that is addressed to only be available on the Tor network. Due to how the encryption and traffic relay work, the site itself (or anyone else along the way who is relaying traffic) doesn't know it is you who is asking for the information. This makes it a good place to host websites for illegal activities, since no one knows who is running the server or who the website visitors are.
That said, there are ways that you can get caught by tracing back payment info, which is one of the reasons Bitcoin is so popular, since you can't track it as easily. Alternatively, there are a few ways of being sloppy on the technical side that can get you traced as well.