Top 10 Deep Web Browsers and Search Engines

Staying Anonymous

Staying anonymous is needed not only by whistleblowers but also by credit card scammers, drug dealers, etc. While you’ve probably heard of all the criminal activities that take place, one of the most significant benefits of using a Deep Web Browser is being able to browse the internet anonymously.

Such anonymous networks are the focus of attention not only of ordinary people fleeing censorship but also of criminal cartels. Many different applications are used to hide the users’ identities and ensure the security of the data they transmit on the internet. While some of these applications only work as a proxy server, there are also versions that can be installed as stand-alone software or an operating system. Some applications have their own network infrastructure, while others use the network infrastructure of other applications.

 

 

Top Deep Web Browsers

 

Tor browser
Figure 1: Tor Browser

 

Tor Browser

The dark web is a part of the internet that we can reach only with a specific tool. It hosts onion links that you can not find with regular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari. For this, the Tor browser works best as it allows you to visit dark websites while maintaining anonymity by routing your traffic through several nodes.

 

Tor (The Onion Router) is the name of a network and software project that provides anonymous communication to its users. The project enables users to access the internet in an encrypted manner by hiding their real identities by using the Tor web browser over the network of more than 6000 volunteer Tor servers located worldwide and reduces the risk of being tracked. Tor Browser relayed the traffic and encrypted it three times as it passed over the Tor network. The network is comprised of thousands of volunteer-run servers known as Tor relays.

 

how the tor network works
Figure 2: How does the Tor Network Work?

 

I2P

Another deep web browser, I2P, is quite different from Tor as it offers anonymity and works with multiple layers of data streaming, thus protecting your privacy.

Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is a fully end-to-end encrypted private network layer enhanced by privacy and security by design that provides protection for your activity, location, and identity. I2P comes with a router that connects you to the network and applications to share, communicate with other I2P devices, and build stuff.

 

i2p browser
Figure 3: Invisible Internet Project (I2P)

 

Freenet

Freenet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, anonymous communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information and has a suite of free software for publishing and communicating on the web without fear of censorship. Freenet’s goal is to provide freedom of speech on the Internet with strong anonymity protection.

In addition, thanks to the security mode it calls “darknet,” it can only connect to registered “trusted” nodes. This is why it differs from other popular anonymous networks.

FreeNet keeps encrypted files by allocating a certain part of your disk to support/feed its own network. And it does not accept responsibility for the legal side of the files kept. It states in its official documentation that users cannot easily discover what these encrypted files are. 

 

 

 

Top Deep Web Search Engines

Ahmia

Ahmia presents itself as a hidden service search engine, and that’s what it does. It aims to provide users of the Tor Anonymity Network with a powerful and robust search engine that helps discover different useful websites on the dark web. Moreover, Ahmia can also be used to view statistics, insights, and news about the Tor network.

Recon

Recon is a new market/vendor data aggregator service and a cross-marketplace search engine. It allows you to see and look up data on multiple established darknet markets from one single modern and functional interface.

EXCAVATOR

EXCAVATOR is a dark web .onion Search Engine based on simplicity and anonymity that does not track you or use Java Script. This Search Engine was made in 2019 by an anonymous group of activists. They also have a project named Excavator Token, which you can buy and help development and maintenance costs of the Excavator.

Torch

Torch is one of the oldest and most well-known darknet search engines. As stated by the Torch team, Torch scrapes new onion sites every day, and our goal is to index every Tor website that’s publicly accessible. Currently, we have indexed over 100,000 onions and over 4 million web pages. The search results on Torch are not censored. Torch team believes trying to censor the dark web is counterproductive and a waste of resources.

The Deep Searches

The Deep Searches, the largest darknet, and deep web search engine, provides search services for hidden content.

GDark

GDARK is an association created to offer an advanced Darknet search engine.

Phobos

Phobos is a very minimalistic and simple search engine for Tor .onion hidden websites. It’s working very much the same. Like Google, you type the keyword you are searching for, click on search, and that’s it. Not much is known about who created Phobos or why, as there is no “About Us” or “Contact Us” page. However, Phobos is very easy to search and a high-speed Search Engine for Tor.

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