In the belly of the internet

The internet is an amazing thing, providing users with information at their fingertips, but, the internet that most users know barely scratches the surface of what is out there in terms of information and the cyber realm we know as the world wide web.

The first layer of the internet is the one that majority of internet users know about and generally refer to as the internet but in reality only comprises about 4% of what really is the internet. The surface web is the realm that you are working in when you are surfing Google, reading a blog, shopping at Takealot or selling your goods on Gumtree which are all sites that are indexed by Google and other search engines

Just below what we now know as the surface web is what is known as the deep web, the portion of the web that makes up its majority, and is not indexed and cannot be searched by Google or other search engines. The deep web contains all the personal information that users generally don’t want the world to have access too and contains information such as audio files, photos, videos, and documentation. When you store your work or personal information in the “cloud”, you are essentially making use of the deep web.

Finally, on the underbelly of the internet, is the dark web. The dark web is the Gotham of the web where most internet users would not want to go. In the dark web, there is a whole range of criminal activity taking place such as trafficking of guns and ammunition, drugs, slaves and various other unimaginable things. Search engines like Google and Bing will never lead you into the dark web, but individuals who venture into these criminal activities have various methods of accessing the dark web.