Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tech & Science

Mysterious habits of dark web searchers revealed

On darkent a user can buy credit card numbers, all manner of drugs, guns, counterfeit money, stolen subscription credentials, and hacked accounts. Who exactly is searching for this?

Representation of the darknet. Image by Ryan Compton / CC BY 3.0
Representation of the darknet. Image by Ryan Compton / CC BY 3.0

There are nearly 1.5 million[ people across the world searching for the dark web, and research has revealed which dark web browsers people are searching for the most.

A dark web page is purposely hidden (it doesn’t show up on search engines), where users can only gain access via certain browsers. It is estimated that 57 percent of dark web pages host illicit material.

Modern darknets use unique software to allow use of the distributed network. A report by Uswitch unveils that Tor is the most searched for dark web browser, with 910,730 searches for the platform in the past 12 months. In comparison, Subgraph OS is the most unknown browser, with just 3,080 people looking for it.

The Tor architecture provides two services – anonymous browsing, and hosting of anonymous information exchanges – through one piece of software, the so-called ‘Tor Browser’. The technology allows anybody to create a virtually untraceable server hosted within the Tor network, simply by adding two short lines of code to a short configuration file.

According to the review, the most searched-for dark web browsers:

BrowserGlobal average monthly searches in the past 12 months
Tor910,730 
Waterfox52,220
Whonix21,770
Subgraph OS3,080

In terms of where the most search activity happens, people in America are searching for the dark web the most, with 382,800 searches online, followed by India (251,400) and the UK (78,400). These countries are followed by, in descending order:

  • France
  • Italy
  • Indonesia
  • Canada
  • Philippines
  • Brazil
  • Turkey

Within the US, New Yorkers, in particular, are most interested in the dark web (10,220).

In terms of Europe and the British Isles, in the UK, Londoners come out top at searching for the dark web (8,490). Whereas, in the European Union, Parisians are looking for the dark web the most (5,450).

As people search, most users. often search using keywords both in English and their native language, as translated content online can be limited.

In relation to elicit activity, the concerns are Internet Service Providers (ISPs) nor law-enforcement agencies have visibility into the hosted service’s location, or the identity of its operator.

Avatar photo
Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

You may also like:

Social Media

Meanwhile, Zoomers, ignore the morons and make lives for yourselves outside this sewer.

Tech & Science

Google on Monday signed a deal to get electricity from small nuclear reactors to help power artificial intelligence.

Entertainment

Emmy-nominated actor Justin Hartley is able to take viewers "Out of the Past" in the first episode of Season 2 of "Tracker" on CBS.

Sports

The former United manager, 82, won 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns.