You've heard of it before: the mysterious dark web. You're probably equally curious and apprehensive about the whole thing. But what is the dark web? And more importantly, what cool dark web sites are out there? Here's our list of the best dark web websites to visit. Dark Web vs. Deep Web: What's the Difference? The deep web refers to anything on the internet that you can't find using a search engine. That includes emails in your Gmail account, direct messages on social networks, and even your Facebook photos that you marked as private. The dark web is a subsection of the deep web. It is responsible for the deep web's bad reputation. You'll find black markets selling drugs and other substances, grisly images, and even new identities and online accounts for sale. Indeed, there are lots of reasons to avoid the dark web entirely. Yet, at the same time, the dark web is well worth exploring. Amidst the chaos, you'll find some great websites.
There's much more to learn about the dark web, but here, we'll focus on listing the best .onion sites you won't find on Google. We strongly recommend shielding yourself with a VPN before you access the dark web. The notion that the Tor browser provides failsafe anonymity is false; you need to protect yourself. Don't know which VPN is best for you? There are plenty of options out there, both free and paid, but our top-ranked VPN is ExpressVPN, which comes with Tor support and three free months. To visit a .onion site, you'll have to both know it exists and have its URL ready. There are a few ways to find active .onion sites. One of them is by using a directory of sites, like The Hidden Wiki. Some sites are perfectly legit-such as domain services and email providers. Some-like whistleblowing-may face government censorship in your country. Others cross the divide into illegality.
Make sure you're smart about which dark web links you click on. You can access Facebook via the dark web by using the official Facebook .onion mirror. Doing so has two primary benefits. Firstly, you can create and use an account anonymously. You can use Facebook's services without exposing yourself to the company's privacy-eroding tentacles. Secondly, if Facebook is blocked in your location, you can use the dark web Facebook mirror to circumvent the censorship. Cryptocurrencies weren't so popular among the general public until recently. However, dark web users have relied on Bitcoin transactions for over a decade, as they allow people to make payments while staying completely anonymous. And Hidden Wallet is one of your best options if you're looking for a Bitcoin wallet for use on the dark web. Like any other crypto wallet, you can trade Bitcoin using Hidden Wallet. But unlike other wallets, you don't have to worry about your personal information being leaked since it's hosted on the Tor network.
Hidden Wallet promises bank-grade security for your Bitcoins and claims that it can never access your keys or crypto funds. One of its journalists, Hannah Dreier, won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her coverage of gangs in Los Angeles. It was ProPublica's fifth Pulitzer Prize. DuckDuckGo is one of the leading private internet search engines on the open web. It doesn't track your browsing history, location, or any other data. It's so secure and privacy-oriented that the Tor browser uses it as the default search engine. However, there's also a dark web version of the search engine. It's a great dark web search engine that affords users an extra layer of protection and anonymity. SecureDrop is a popular site where whistleblowers can anonymously share confidential information with journalists. Since it's hosted on the Tor network, dark web users don't have to worry about being tracked or their personal information being revealed while exchanging information with media outlets. Popular news publications like The Washington Post, The Guardian, TechCrunch, and more have set up their own SecureDrop URLs so whistleblowers can contact them effortlessly.
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