Inaccessible via search engines

The deep web is not accessible via search engines like Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo. Why? Simply because the pages of this unknown part of the internet are not indexed by the engine or stored in their databases. As part of the ‘regular’ internet, it is estimated to be approximately 90 to 95% of the (known) world-wide web.

Gaining access: easier than you think!

This hidden part of the internet might be big, but it is also easily accessible. How? Not that complicated as you think.

To understand what the deep web is, you must know that it is defined as that part of the (regular) internet that is not indexed by search engines. It’s a well-known part of the net you use a lot: everything which requires a password or access code to read, is part of this hidden web. Not that strange if you remember not everything must be shared with the world…

Some examples? Easy! It is home to

• the logged-on part of your banking software,
• your private photos stored on your iCloud or Google Drive,
• the administration interface of your own website,
• your company’s intranet,
• your OneDrive or private DropBox-account
• your “friends-only” Facebook page or private Instagram
• …

All of these require some sort of authorisation to view the stored information. Most of the time you do not need any special browser or software. That are the basic differences between this deep web versus the dark web.

Safely using the deep web

Lots of things you hold dear like your bank transactions and sensitive documents are stored on this part of the internet. When accessing the web  use a decent web browser. Also, it is a good idea to protect yourself from malware and viruses. Optionally, when on holiday in countries ‘with a reputation’, you might want to consider using a VPN to access the deep web safely.

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Your browser, step one towards a safer surfing experience

You do not want to be on the receiving end of a phishing attempt. Also, tracking en leaking private information are things to be avoided.

A safe browser blocks ads and cookies, avoids the tracking of your online activities. It also helps to prevent your personal information from being collected and sold to third-party companies. Your online searches and transactions remain preferably private and secure.

Additionally, safe web browsers often come with built-in encryption and extra features that protect you from hackers and ensure that your data is not intercepted by unauthorized parties.

Let’s determine: what is the safest browser for daily use?

Lets make a list of criteria

Our ideal browser…

1. blocks ads natively, without extra ad-blockers as plug-ins.
2. blocks cross-site tracking: website 2 does not need to know we visited website 1 just moments ago.
3. blocks cookies: some cookies are useful, most of them are not. (We do want to store our site-preferences, but we do not want to leave unnecessary traces behind.)
4. makes sure we cannot be uniquely identified (= avoids fingerprinting)
5. protects us against malware and phishing
6. avoids bounce tracking
7. allows us to surf anonymously using the Tor-network when needed

Let’s compare browsers

In our comparison table we compared the most frequent used browsers like Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome to lesser known browsers like DuckDuckGo and Brave.

Our recommendation: the safest webbrowser is…

• From the standard well-known browsers available Safari and Firefox are by default the winners, with small preference towards Firefox.
• Including the lesser known browsers however, Brave is the best of them all. We can confidently say that Brave is the safest web browser for daily use.

Meet the winner! 

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The Internet: the Surface Web

When most people talk about “The Internet”, they actually mean the regular collection of publicly available websites as indexed by search engines like Google or Bing. Those are also the websites you can surf to using your favorite browser like Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge. This part of the World Wide Web is called “the Surface Web”. All of the information on these sites is freely available.

In reality, the Surface Web is about 5% of the Internet.

The Internet part deux: the Deep Web

No, the Deep Web isn’t anything strange. You might actually be more on it than you realize: “the Deep Web” is the 2nd part of the Internet where information requires a password or login to access. This information is

So, whenever you visit the information on the private portal of your organization, or read the newspaper as a subscriber, or surf on private profiles on Facebook, you are using the Deep Web.

Even secure services like Messenger, Whatsapp, Twitter, Paypal, DropBox or the administration side of your personal website are part of this Deep Web. Also banking transactions and confidential government information are part of this side of the WWW. Thus it will not surprise you that the Deep Web is almost 95% of the Internet.

The undiscovered country: the Dark Web

So, what is it?

The Dark Web is the collection of websites not connected to the regular World Wide Web. It is not indexed by search engines like Google and Bing, and are not accessible by regular Internet browsers (like Chrome, Firefox or Safari).

How do I surf on the Dark Web?

You need a TOR-browser to access these special websites. As a special part of the Deep Web, it is decentralized, a bit like the blockchain infrastructure we know from cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.

The Dark Web does not operate from one specific place and is hard to take down or regulate. it does not work with the known structure of domains ending on .com, .net or .org. However, it operates in a similar way with (almost unreadable) domains ending on ‘.onion’.

Is it dangerous to access the Dark Web?

Not everything on the Dark Web is illegal as rumors will make you believe. This means that you can surf safely on the Dark Web, if you take the necessary precautions. These precautions are necessary:(as mentioned) this hidden part of the Internet infrastructure is not regulated.

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So, what is a VPN?

First of all, you guessed correctly: VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. However, it has in reality nothing to do with “Virtual” or “Network”, but does ensure your privacy on the internet.

Imagine yourself surfing on the Internet. Your smartphone or computer constantly sends information to other places on the web, like a regular website for example. Your connection to and from that website you are visiting is somewhat secure (that’s what the ‘s’ in https stands for), but anyone with bad intentions, including the government, can see what it is your doing with minimal effort.

Now imagine a concrete tube through which all your internet (encrypted) traffic goes, and nobody knows the origin of that tube, only you. That’s what a virtual private network is. Even the government can’t locate which country you’re actually surfing from.

This gives you loads of advantages:

• A VPN helps you to hide your identity;
• The data you transmit and receive is highly secured through a strong encryption
• You can enjoy the freedom of access to all the information on the Internet, even in countries that censor some websites (or on websites that have different content from country to country (for example: streaming websites))

How does a Virtual Private Network work?

Whenever you use the Internet normally, “the internet knows”:

• where you are located
• who or what your are contacting
• what you are transmitting and/or receiving

With a VPN you first contact a secure VPN-server. This service encrypts your data and routes (for you) your data on the internet. The server’s location can vary, anywhere in the world, and thus it becomes your new ‘point of origin’. In this way you also protect your location. The minimal fee you pay for the use of such a VPN is to keep those magical servers in the air, allowing you to pick and choose which one to use, based upon your needs.

What should you do?

Be smart. Get a VPN if you value your privacy and the safety of your data.

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