What are the layers of the web?

What is the web?

The web is the common name for the World Wide Web, a subset of the Internet consisting of web pages that can be accessed by a web browser. People assume that the web is the same as the Internet, and use the terms interchangeably. However, the term Internet actually refers to the global network of servers that makes the information sharing happens over the Web possible. So although the Web does make up a large portion of the Internet, they are not one and the same. The World Wide Web is a web of interlinked HTML pages accessible over the Internet.

Three layers of the web

The web holds far more secrets than what we can perceive. It contains 3 layers- the surface web, The deep web, and the dark web as explained by data scientist, Denis Shestakov, in his iceberg analogy.

Surface Web- The visible part of the iceberg containing all the content that is indexable by the search engines like Google, and Bing. These search engines cannot index the pages on Deep Web and it requires special authorization to access it. So finally the deepest layer of the web - the Dark Web, is accessible illegally only using special browsers and software which ensures high anonymity and encryption.

Surface Web

The Surface Web represents the tip of the iceberg that is visible to all. The " Surface Web " is accessible via web browsers and search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. Search engines crawl and index the web pages available on the web to make them available for users. They then rank these websites to display the most relevant results to the user.

The Surface Web is the part of the web that we are all aware of and use on a regular basis. Even this blog you are reading right now is a part of the surface web. The surface web consists of only 4% of the whole World Wide Web. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Youtube, etc are a part of the surface web. Even though the surface web is considered to be a much safer place for users to explore and use the Internet.

Deep Web

Deep Web is a part of the invisible, underground web that a normal user cannot access. This is so because it contains data that is not crawled and indexed by search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. One can access the Deep Web only if one has the authorization, and scientific and government records. Accessing the Deep Web is not so difficult and it is legit to access the Deep Web. Full search engines such as Google Scholar, the library of congress, and JSTOR, enable searching through otherwise-isolated records of articles and books. This gives access to the academic section of the Deep Web. Content from the deep web can be accessed by an IP address or direct URLs, Which may be password protected or may need other security access.

Accessing the Deep Web

Accessing the deep web is not so difficult, You just need a special authorization or access credentials to access the information on the Deep Web. This is because there are certain confidential data that need protection for the sake of mankind. If you are a student then you can access the academic section of the Deep Web by using search engines like Google Scholar as it gives access to the academic section of the Deep Web. But for other uses, you may need a special browser like Tor (The Onion Router).

Dark Web

Thinking of the Dark Web immediately conjures up gory images, crime, etc. The dark web is a part of the deep web and it is also an invisible part of the web. Visitors or Website operators need separate software or configurations to access the dark web. Tor browser is one of the tools to access the dark web. Visitors remain anonymous on the Dark Web. Websites on the dark web use the .onion domain which can be accessed through the Tor browser.

Most of the illegal activities on the web takes place on the dark web, like gambling, drugs, child pornography, weapons, etc. A major part of the transactions takes place on the dark web by using cryptocurrency like bitcoin. Most of the hackers also use the dark web.96 % of the total worldwide web is consumed by the Deep Web and dark web.

What is the difference between Deep Web and Dark Web?

As many people don't know what is the difference between the Deep Web and the Dark web. So the main difference between the Deep and the Dark Web is that one can be accessed by using proper credentials and authorization. On the other hand, Dark Web requires a special software/browser with a suitable decryption key to access it. Data available on the Deep Web is not hidden, it's just difficult to access from the existing search engine technology. On the contrary, the sole intention of using the Dark Web is Anonymity. Major of the illegal activities on the web takes place on the Dark Web, like gambling, trading of organs, child pornography, hitmen, etc.

Accessing the Dark Web

One can access the Dark Web using a special browser like Tor. Tor is commonly known as an "Onion" browser and contains multiple layers of IPs. It enables a user to remain completely anonymous i.e, it neither traces the user's IP address/location nor records any detail. The websites on the dark web use the .onion domain which can only be accessed by the Tor browser.