A journalist has immersed herself in the world of the dark web.
While we're warned to stay away from the dark web in fear of ending up in virtual handcuffs and potentially in real handcuffs, it isn't all shady sites where you can buy Class-A drugs or hire an assassin. As one ethical hacker has previously explained, you need to know where you're going on the dark web to get what you want, although there's obviously still a 'dark' side that's full of some pretty nasty sites.
As an Australian lawyer who turned herself into a journalist, Eileen Ormsby dives deep into the dark web as research for her book, The Darkest Web. Revealing what she found down there, Ormsby shared the 'best' site on the dark web in a tell-all interview with Vice.
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Unlike one anonymous hacker who explained how scary ransomware attacks from the dark web can be, Ormsby explained the lighter side of the dark web and her favorite site:
"I can’t tell you the name, but I like to call a little corner of rainbows and happiness in the dark web, it’s a place where psychonauts get together, it is for people into their psychedelics. It’s full of nice people talking about nice things."
The idea of 'nice' things on the dark web might sound like a paradox, and in her interview, Ormsby also lifted the lid on the various 'murder-for-hire' sites. Getting inside the infamous Besa Mafia site, Ormsby says things soon started to unravel. Referring to it as a 'very slick site', she says she managed to get into the database and inbox using some hacked files: "It got a little disconcerting when the site’s owner started threatening me with violence, he seemed to be getting a little unhinged."
Her book also briefly touches on the story of Ross Ulbricht, him running the darknet Silk Road market until his arrest in 2013, and the allegations that he paid $730,000 in murder-for-hire deals.
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Ormsby’s best advice is to be wary of phishing on the dark web, with scam sites ready to empty your Bitcoin wallet at the press of a button.
It's not all narcotics and dodgy death deals, and as for the future of the dark web, Ormsby actually sees its power for good in terms of protecting privacy. Saying we've moved into a post-privacy world without noticing it, she continued: "Many people will be content to give up their privacy for the sake of easy living. But I think we will see a much stronger movement seeking to regain control of their information because some people just don’t want to give up all their information to marketers."
She concluded by saying that some of the privacy tools provided by the dark web will be 'integrated' into tech so consumers can decide how much they're willing to give up.
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As Ormbsy herself says: "I don’t think we’re being paranoid enough to be honest." Remember, Big Brother is always watching.