The internet is larger than you think.
Using websites like Google and Yahoo is only the tip of a massive internet iceberg that goes far beyond a typical search.
There's what could be considered a "black market web" that you should be concerned about, an entirely different internet used by people across the world. It's not what you do every day when you go to Facebook or look up your favorite Apple Crisp recipe.
This internet requires special software, and it is deeper and darker than what you've experienced.
"Think of it kind of like an illegal bazaar,” said FBI Special Agent Bradlee Godshall.
It started as a way for the US military to communicate abroad without being detected.
“The TOR was originally a project from the United States Navy. It was intended for governmental purposes and as so often happens, it gets utilized for other uses,” Godshall explained.
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There are now sites where you can be anonymous as you gain access to any and everything you can think of: “Guns, narcotics, valid credit card numbers, cloned phones, weapons," said Godshall.
Ken Weston is a researcher at Tripwire. Within seconds of searching the dark web, he found hundreds of credit card numbers for sale for as little as two dollars. If you wanted more information, the price jumped up to $5.
"Here, they all included social security number and date of birth, and then that's going to be a bit more expensive," Weston said.
The dark web has been trouble for law enforcement. Every transaction is done without names and when the FBI finds one site, another pops up.
"The dark web is too massive. Even in the registered domain registers, there are 555 million. Those are just registered and that doesn't even count the dark web,” Godshall said.
Weston found ads for a 3-D printed gun, counterfeit money, drugs and even an ad for a hitman. The FBI says this underground internet is something your children probably know about it and could access.
"The computer and the electronic virtual world has infiltrated into our phones, into our tablets. It's something that is everywhere. It's something parents need to take a very active and strong stance against," Weston said.
Special Agent Godshall says the dark web is kind of like a double-edged sword because in addition to the criminal use of it, it also provides to put highly sensitive political information out to a wider market.
