The Tor network hosts onion sites. The Tor network is a series of interconnected nodes that allow for private and anonymous use of the internet.
Its name derives from its initials, "The Onion Router," while the websites hosted on the service have ".onion" as a domain extension.
Of course, you can not access Tor services or webpages using a regular browser. These websites are parts of the invisible section of the internet known as Deep Web. Darknets are the parts of the Deep Web that we hear in the news.
Below we will see how you can access .onion sites and why do you do it?
How do you access a .onion page?
You can access via Tor and the Tor browser. Tor Browser has modified the Mozilla Firefox browser with many built-in scripts and add-ons to protect your privacy while browsing the specific web pages.
The Tor browser has default settings to connect to the Tor network, and the developers advise against using any compatible browser's settings unless you know what you're doing. Take this very seriously, "know what you're doing" because the Tor browser works differently than a normal browser, and any change to the settings could expose the data to external sources.
From the Tor Project website, download the browser Tor. Find the zip, and unzip the folder. Open the Tor Browser folder and double-click Start Tor Browser. The browser will check for updates. If there are letting the app upgraded.
There's more programs browsing that focus on privacy and anonymity. Also, is Tor all you need, or would a basic VPN do the job?
A quick warning
Onion sites and the dark in general Internet, can host scary content. There is invaluable information on the Deep Web that you won't find on the web, but much of the Dark Net contains harmful content.
Of course, the authorities already know that there are these websites and they are watching them. Below we will see how you can find websites of interest, but carefully read each description before clicking on any link!
How to find active .onion links
Google Search will not help you. Spiders are bots that systematically search for web pages and index the content.
Deep Web has a similar index, but it does not appear on websites like Google. Below we will see some search engines for Tor.
You should copy and paste the links below into your Tor browser instead of your regular browser.
The Hidden Wiki
Hidden Wiki is a page for new visitors to the dark internet. Connected is for 2018. Old Links of The Hidden Wiki exist, but contain several old websites and links that do not work.
Deep Web Links - Dark Web Links
Another website that uses the name "Hidden Wiki" but is not the "official" page. However, it has a very long list of onion sites. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to verify how many of these pages are still running. This search engine has a description of what each site is about.
TORCH
It is a well-known Tor search engine. However, it doesn't work like a normal search engine. For example, using TORCH to search for the term “Facebook” will not return you the onion Facebook site, but a large list of posts in a Russian hacking forum.
Not Evil
If TORCH does not help you find what you want, try Not Evil. Not Evil works more like a regular web search engine and is the successor to TorSearch (another Tor search engine) and Evil Wiki (another page).
For example, a search for "Facebook" will return the official rFacebook onion site.
Daniel Onion Link List and Raspberry Pi Directory
Daniel's onion link list is a Tor directory hosted on the Raspberry Pi. The list is a list that gives you a brief description of each locations, the last views and dates the page was last tested, as well as when it first appeared on the Tor network.
Daniel's Onion Link List includes all types of pages. Read the descriptions carefully before clicking on the links.
Tor Sale Safe
Most darknet users will tell you the same thing: do not believe what you see. There are too many myths surrounding Darknet. What you see may not be true, but if you do not want to know it.
The Tor network also hosts some really interesting and useful sites.
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