Deep Web vs. Dark Web: What’s the Difference?

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Like an ocean, the Internet has its layers: the surface, the deep, and the dark web. The bottom two layers are not that well understood and remain partly unexplored. This guide explains the deep web vs. the dark web and how they differ from one another.

Content

The World Wide Web Explained

The World Wide Web has three layers. At the top, there is the “visible or surface web.” The visible web is what you’re looking at right now. Just a browser is enough to open a visible webpage. You don’t need a login, paywall, or any special software. Because Google bots and other web crawlers index them, you can find these pages with a quick online search.

The next layer is the “deep web,” a large invisible portion of the Internet. We call these websites “deep,” as the content is hidden, and search engines don’t index them. For example, your Web-based email inbox, online banking, checkout and payment pages, and restricted pages, such as website post drafts, company intranets, and government and military databases.

Image source: DALL-E 3

Lastly, the “dark web” is a different category of the Internet and is sometimes confused as part of the deep web. It mainly hosts hidden websites that can’t be found on search engines and typical browsers can’t open. The site locations are encrypted onion links, and you need a special browser like Tor to access them.

Deep Web vs. Dark Web: 5 Key Differences

1. Purpose

Visiting a deep web website is like visiting any surface web website. You can open them on your usual browser. It gives you access to the inner pages that unauthorized users can’t see: your Gmail inbox, PayPal transactions, or a Candy Crush Saga game on Facebook.

The Internet, as we know it, can’t function without secure ways to access your account, collaborate with others, process payments, perform transactions, or display confirmation screens. The deep web does these, and much more.

In comparison, the dark web is called that because most Internet users don’t know what’s on it. While the deep web is “invisible” to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access, the dark web is a parallel Internet for people who want more privacy: investigative journalists, whistleblowers, free speech advocates, and ethical hackers.

2. Access Software

The dark web is hidden behind trusted, peer-to-peer networks. As mentioned, you’ll need a dedicated browser, such as The Onion Router (TOR). Hence, the nickname of “Onionland.” Most dark web websites use “.onion” as their top-level domain instead of .com, .edu, .biz, etc. Many popular media outlets, such as BBC, maintain an official Tor mirror site.

Tip: some corners of the dark web cannot be reached by Tor and need other browsers like Hyphanet or I2P.

To access the dark web anonymously, use a secure VPN service along with the Tor browser, as Tor networks are prone to ISP blocking. If you live in a country where Tor is banned, unblock Tor through mirror sites. Even Gmail allows this.

Unlike the dark web, you don’t need any special software to access the deep web and can use your usual browser. It may, however, require a username or password for authentication. You may also need two-factor authentication.

3. Structure

The deep web is more centralized, making it easier to find information than on the dark web. You can access a deep website’s “invisible content” from the surface web if you have the right login details. Different users can see different parts of a website based on their privileges. For instance: a company Intranet where, apart from an employee, only the payroll manager can see salary details.

There are “protected areas” in the deep web that most people don’t know about, such as sensitive government, military, and scientific databases.

Image source: DALL-E 3

In comparison to the deep web, the dark web is entirely decentralized and lacks an organized structure. Each dark net network peer is independent of the others. The most hidden corners of the dark web only have private peer-to-peer connections.

4. Volume of Information

It’s easy to imagine why the deep web could equal 90 or 95 percent of the Internet, since there are many billions of web pages that need special access. There is no way to measure the exact terabyte amount, as much of this data hides behind secure servers.

Size-wise, the dark web is much smaller than the deep web. As the dark web has never been measured, it can feel bottomless. However, it’s estimated to be in the range of 0.01-1%.

Good to know: find out the biggest security threats on the dark web and how to avoid them.

5. Security Threats

When most people talk about the deep web, the conversation often turns to nefarious or malicious uses. But they really mean the dark web. As it’s difficult to trace users of the dark web, it gets a lot of attention from those who want to engage in illicit behavior. In fact, the dark web has links to various illegal activity, such as ransomware, drug marketplaces, terrorism, and more.

As accessing the dark web requires a specialized browser, users on the surface/deep web aren’t directly affected. The dark web may have its risk factors, but there are plenty of secure dark web websites.

While the deep web is definitely safer than the dark web and its criminal activities, some unindexed sites may contain the same threats. In fact, since the deep web can be accessed from a regular browser, you actually have to be more careful.

Key Takeaways

Some of the key takeaways when taking a look at the deep web vs. the dark web and their differences are:

  • Although the dark web is considered a subset of the deep web, they are entirely different in scope, access methods, and application.
  • The deep web is a key part of the Internet, as you can access these sites from the regular web. The dark web, however, requires a special browser.
  • The dark web is more prone to security threats. Consider using one of these dark web scanners if you think your sensitive data has been compromised.

Image credit: DALL-E 3. All screenshots by Sayak Boral.

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Sayak Boral –
Staff Writer

Sayak Boral is a technology writer with over eleven years of experience working in different industries including semiconductors, IoT, enterprise IT, telecommunications OSS/BSS, and network security. He has been writing for MakeTechEasier on a wide range of technical topics including Windows, Android, Internet, Hardware Guides, Browsers, Software Tools, and Product Reviews.

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