The Dark Web

The Dark Web was created in the 1990s, by the United States government as a hidden network within which their spies could exchange information anonymously

The Dark Web or Dark Net is the layer of the World Wide Web that consists of multiple overlay networks to form dangerous, and extremely exploitive 'friend-to-friend' and 'peer-to-peer' networks. The variety of content found on the Dark Web can stretch from simply buying wholesale amounts of food, to drug buying, murder methods and even hitmen hiring. The software is not easily accessible as an encrypted network is required and it cannot be found by using traditional search engines or be visited by using traditional browsers.
 
The Dark Web is used for multiple reasons, one of the most famous uses is 'Silk Road', which is an online black market, best known for drug selling. 'Silk Road' consists of anonymous search engines using 'Tor hidden services' to allow users to access a huge span of services stretching from simple objects to unimaginable and sinister pages.

In March 2013, it was recorded that 'Silk Road' had over 10,000 products for sale, 70% of which were illegal drugs, such as LSD, Cannabis, Meth and Heroin. Other services such as providing fake details like driving licenses and credit cards, as well as stolen credit cards and fraudulent requests can be made. 'Silk Road' has been labelled with the service of selling anything that causes 'harm or defraud'. Some more disturbing and dangerous corners of the server consist of the selling and displaying of child pornography, and even other ways of arranging methods of sexual exploitation. Violence also poses as a popular element of the website as you are able to organize assassinations, buy weapons ranging from knives, guns and even explosives. It even becomes as serious as being able to join terrorist organizations, for example ISIS recruit members here.   
 
It is hard to imagine that anyone would want to create a place where such sins can be made, but Ross William Ulbricht made this choice in February 2011. Ulbricht managed to accumulate $15 million from February 2012 within 5 months, and one year later, he earned $30-$45 million. Silk Road proved to be very successful and something that people were using a lot.  However, in October 2013, the FBI shut down the site, and arrested Ulbricht, sentencing him to life imprisonment. But this wasn’t the complete end of Silk Road, as in November 2013, it came back online, only to be closed again a year later.
 
Even though 'Silk Road' has been shut down, the Dark Web still operates, and provides the same service and consists of the same obscured operations.