Web User - UK (2019-11-27)

Thelighterside ofthe DarkWeb

Discuss the darkwebat http://www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 27 Nov-10Dec 2019 49

countrieswhereFacebookisblockedor
censored,butisequallyusefulfor
anyoneconcernedaboutonline
surveillancebecauseitclaimsnotto
keeplogsofuseractivities.Thesite
attractsmorethanamilliondarkweb
usersamonthandcanalsobeaccessed
onmobiledevicesviatheTorappfor
Android(bit.ly/tordroid4 89 ).Tor’s
built-inscriptblockermeansyou
shouldn’tseeanyads,either!

DuckDuckGo
3g2upl4pq6kufc4m.onion
ThedefaultsearchengineinToristhe
privacy-focusedDuckDuckGo,which–
unlikeGoogleandBing–doesn’tstore
yoursearchhistoryorpersonal
information,ortrackyouaroundthe
web.However,ifyouwanttoguarantee
thatnobodyelsecanseewhat
you’relookingforonline,it’sworth
switchingtothe‘darkweb’versionof
DuckDuckGo.ThisencryptsallyourTor
searchqueriesend-to-endandstops
anyoneknowingthatyou’reevenusing
thesearchengine.
Youcaneitheraccessthehidden
DuckDuckGoviatheonionlinkabove,
orselectDuckDuckGoOnionfromthe
optionsbelowtheTorBrowser’s
addressbarorsearchboxwhenyou
typeasearchquery.Toalwaysusethis
version,right-clickitsiconandchoose
SetAsDefaultSearchEngine.Because
ofthe‘onionrouting’,you’llfindit’sa
littleslowerthanstandardDuckDuckGo.

ExpressVPN
expressobutiolem.oni on
VPNs andtheTor networkbothkeep
youanonymous online by concealing
your real identityand location,and

communitythatishappyto provide

helpful–or,atleast,honest–answers

to anyquestion.Someofthe

discussionsareslightlyshady,butthe

Technologyboardisbyfarthemost

popular,addressingsuchinnocuous

topicsas‘HowcanIrecoverdeleted

files?’and‘Doestheonionversionof

Facebookactuallywork?’.You’llalso

findusefuladviceaboutonlinesecurity

andprivacy,andtipsonavoidingthe

latestscams.

HiddenAnswersforbidsitsmembers

fromtradingillegalwaresandblocks

userswhofloutitsrulesaboutspam,

pornographyandattackingothers.

SecureDrop

secrdrop5wyphb5x.onion

Thedarkwebiswidelyusedby

activists,campaigners,whistleblowers,

journalistsandotherpeoplewary

ofgovernmentcensors hipand

surveillance,toshareandsource

informationanonymously.SecureDrop

providesasafesystemforsubmitting

andacceptingconfidentialdocuments,

encryptingdataintransit,protecting

againsthackersandmaskingIP

addresses,identitiesandother

metadata.

TheSecureDropwebsiteprovidesa

directoryofallthemediaorganisations

thatuseitsservice,completewiththeir

‘onion’addressesforfiledrops,which

youcansearchbycountry,topicand

language.IntheUK,SecureDrop

‘instances’includetheGuardianand

HuffPost,while otherbig namesinclude

Al Jazeera, BuzzFeed,the NewYork

Timesand theWashingtonPost.

Submissioncategories spaneverything

fromcriminal justiceand humanrights

to cybersecurityand celebrities, and

youcan addyour owncompany to the

directory.

encryptingyourbrowsingdata.For

maximumprivacyandsecurity,youcan

combinethetwo–althoughthiswill

noticeablyslowyourinternet

connection–bysigningupfor

ExpressVPNviaitsdedicateddark

website.Notonlydoesthissiteallow

peoplelivingandworkingincountries

thatblockVPNstoenjoythebenefitsof

theservice,butitletsanyoneregister

forExpressVPNanonymouslyandpay

fortheirsubscriptionusingBitcoin.

ExpressVPNsaysthatconnectingto

itsservice,thenlaunchingToristhe

mostsecurebrowsingmethod,andthat

itsencryptionwillpreventyourprivate

datafrombeingleakedthroughexit

nodes(thelastpointTortrafficpasses

throughbeforeitreachesits

destination).

ProtonMail

protonirockerxow.onion

ProtonMail(protonmail.com)isalready

themostsecurewebmailservice

available:itencryptsincomingand

outgoingmessages,doesn’tlogIP

addressesandstoresyourdatainan

undergroundbunkerinSwitzerland,

whichhassomeofthestrongest

privacylawsintheworld.Butifyou’re

stillworriedaboutemailsnoopersor

you’reinacountrythatblocksaccess

toProtonMail,youcanlogintoits

hiddenservicethroughTor.

ProtonMail’sdarkwebversion

providestrueend-to-endencryption,

whichmakesitimpossibleforanyone

spyingonyourwebactivitiesto know

thatyou’reusingtheservice.Tor’s

encryptionalsopreventsman-in-the-

middleattacks,becauseyour

connectioniscompletelyanonymous

andyourIPaddressundetectable–

eventoProtonMailitself.

ThefreeversionofProtonMaillimits

youto500MBofstorageand 150

messagesaday butyou can increase

thisto5GB and1,000 messagesfor€5

(£4.25)amonth.

Hidden Answers

answerstedhctbek.onion

Like adarkweb versionofReddit,

HiddenAnswers is agreatsource of

information andopinio n, with a