[Female anchor]: It's a secret world used by criminals to buy and sell drugs, guns, sex; just about anything you can imagine.
[Narrator]: I used to think that if you couldn't find something by Google searching it, it didn't exist. But hello Deep Web.
Welcome to WatchMojo's top five facts.
In this installment, we're looking at the eye-opening facts about the Deep Web: the parts of the internet that don't show up on any search engine.
[Narrator]: Number five. There is a difference between the Deep Web and the Dark Web.
[Man]: And the material that they are producing and sharing and discussing is absolutely horrific.
First, let's clear something up.
Whenever someone says Deep Web, thoughts immediately jump to beheadings, child pornography, and killers for hire.
Dale. I found a guy, yeah. It was pretty easy. It was easy as buying a used futon.
You found a hitman online?
Yeah!
[Narrator]: Sure, all that sketchy stuff is in the Deep Web, but that is contained in what is know as the Dark Web,
a section of the Deep Web, often encrypted and/or blocked by membership-only passwords.
The Deep Web, on the other hand, contains some potentially interesting stuff, like secure websites for whistleblowers,
but it's mostly just stuff like personal blogs, religious discussion forums, and illegal radio stations.
[Man]: There's a book club on the so called forums where users go (they have a reading list).
[Narrator]: Truly riveting stuff
Number four. It is a host of illegal activities.
Like we said, that's not to say that there aren't some dark and disturbing factions of the Deep Web.
[Man]: And they don't write hitman, right, because that's dumb. So they use little codewords like wetwork, right, liquidation.
Things you can find online include illegal firearms and explosives, fake passports, and even hitmen for hire,
although there is some debate regarding their authenticity.
[Man]: Some of it, of course, is obviously fake.
There are sites advertising hitmen for hire, contract killers for exorbitant rates who will take out your target of choice.
[Narrator]: Oh, and drugs. Lot's of drugs.
Before it was shut down, Silk Road was the place to score on the internet.
Using Bitcoins and vacuum-sealed packages, you could buy anything under the sun, including prescription painkillers, heroin, ecstasy, and LSD.
Founder Ross William Ulbricht, AKA "Dread Pirate Roberts," has since been arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
Though other Silk Road-like sites have popped up to fill the void.
Number three. Tor is backed and funded by various government agencies.
[Man]: No they think they're pulling this off right under our noses, but I'm on to them.
[Narrator]: So if you can't find it through Google, how do you get to this hidden part of the internet?
Bing? Nope.
Just download Tor, also known as the onion router, a free anonymity software.
It effectively masks a user's IP, making tracing virtually impossible, securing total anonymity.
Some active sponsors of this router include the National Science Foundation and the U.S. State Department.
This is because the original purpose of Tor was to protect online U.S. intelligence communications, like an Enigma machine for the Digital Age.
So before you feel too bad about going anti-establishment,
just remember that it is the establishment itself funding your access.
[Bart]: The ironing is delicious.
[Lisa]: The word is irony.
[Narrator]: Number two. Reddit is used for Dark Web communication.
[Tom]: Then, I like to go on Reddit. Reddit's great because it has all the important links you need.
[Narrator]: On Reddit, just about everything and anything is fair game.
Unfortunately for those without access to the Deep Web, this includes potentially stumbling across communication from Dark Web users.
There are various sub-reddits devoted to the Dark Web, in which buyers and vendors discuss recent news, thoughts, and even post reviews regarding recent drug purchases.
It goes even further, with advice threads discussing how to create a safe drop zone for an item, and how to shake law enforcement.
It's kind of shady stuff.
If you go on Reddit, you may wanna stick with the cat pictures and shower thoughts.
[Man 1]: Relax. I only post cool and interesting stories. At most, one a month?
[Man 2]: You posted 3900 times today.
[Man 1]: I said at most!
[Man 2]: Then you're using that word wrong.
[Narrator]: Number one. The Deep Web is massive.
So, no. The Deep Web isn't just a tiny niche of terrorist videos and whistleblowers
Estimates indicate that only five to 10 percent of the internet is accessible by search engines.
Meaning that the Deep Web contains roughly 90 percent of the internet.
It's impossible to measure accurately due to hidden and locked databases, so numbers aren't exact or updated.
But some estimates put the Deep Web at 500 times larger than the Surface Web, with about 7.5 petabytes of data, and that estimate is from 2001.
It is especially hard to measure due to the different layers of the Deep Web,
each getting more complex and impossible to locate.
The internet is an iceberg.
What Yahoo gives us is only the tip.
So what do you think?
[Man 1]: That's crazy.
[Man 2]: Is it?
[Narrator]: Is Tor a super dodgy tool for criminals, or is anonymity essential to freedom?
For more safe drop zone top tens, and potentially interesting top fives, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
[Ron]: This is the work of a lunatic.