Stay private with a tool like Surfshark’s Alternative ID to mask your contact details and use generated data on sites you don’t trust. Enable MFA wherever possible to protect your accounts from unauthorized access. Given the above threats, it’s a good idea to use Tor over a VPN to access the dark web.
Brave Search

This process also prevents your ISP from seeing your data or where it’s going. Since the ISP can’t detect you’re accessing dark web URLs, it won’t trigger any alarms about your online activity. Search engines on the dark web are a bit of a contradiction because dark web sites by definition are not indexed by traditional search engines. The dark web hosts a wide range of sites — from whistleblower tools and secure email platforms to underground forums, black markets, and dark web mirrors of legitimate news outlets. But while anonymous email services can help protect your identity, they don’t make you immune to threats like email spoofing or social engineering.
ProPublica is one of the safer Tor sites to visit, because it doesn’t link to illegal content or activities. Instead, it focuses on publishing stories and holding powerful institutions accountable. Other major news sources blocked in some countries, like the BBC, also have dark web versions.
Dark Web Search Engines
This article lists some of the best dark web websites you can visit securely. Some of these sites are very helpful (but unseen as Google doesn’t show them), while others are just for fun. If you know the right websites, you can easily access a tremendous amount of information, including research articles, news stories, and more. If you’re having trouble opening a specific onion link, or the overall Tor speed is slow, we have detailed tips on how to make Tor faster. Switzerland-based Proton (formerly ProtonMail) is one of the most secure email services, and has a reputation for not logging IP addresses.
Use The Tor Browser
It has a huge and active user base as well as a marketplace that makes trading of hacked credentials and stolen data seamless. Exploit.In is one of the most visited (and notorious) dark web platforms from long ago, which operates in a Russian-speaking landscape. It’s a major threat to monitor as it operates on both the Tor and the surface web, which makes it accessible from several fronts. Despite all the attacks, blocks, and the constant pressure from the authorities, the forum remains active.
BBC News /portuguese Brasil
Activists, whistle blowers, and journalists also use the dark web to communicate securely with sources and news organizations. These domain names are not registered with a central authority but are instead derived from cryptographic keys. Following the NYT, the BBC launched a dark web “mirror” of their international edition in 2019. Note that some features of the normal website are not available on the .onion version, including BBC iPlayer.
- Offering books for free, shadow libraries face the morality question of copyright vs. access to information and knowledge.
- Known for its speed and accuracy, DarknetLive often publishes verified information before mainstream outlets pick it up.
- Having trouble deciding what dark web sites are safe and reliable?
- The VPN will protect your traffic when you connect with military-grade AES 256-bit encryption.
Social Networks
So well here are the deep web Reddit links which should help you get to the stepping stones of the same. Note that the content being user-generated isn’t always accurate or trustworthy and hence take everything you read on these Reddit dark web links with a pinch of salt. Yes, some can use the dark web for good reasons, like whistleblowers and journalists, and the dark web offers them anonymity. But you must not use it for any illegal or illicit activities or discussions. In the current digital era, where cybercrimes are constantly rising, individuals and businesses need to up their protection techniques.

Step By Step Guide For Accessing The Dark Web Safely?
It contains 7,500 terabytes of information, compared with only 19 terabytes of information in the “surface” web. To look at it in a different way, it makes up between 90% and 95% of the internet. The dark web and the deep web are often used interchangeably, but they’re two distinct concepts. A favorite of journalists and their anonymous sources, SecureDrop makes it easy to share confidential information without revealing your identity. Many news publications, like the ones listed above, have a SecureDrop on their .onion sites. Onion sites (aka Tor sites) are websites only accessible on the dark web; you can’t view them using a regular browser.

The dark web is shrouded in mystery, but not every onion website is dangerous. But before we start, install Norton VPN to help protect your digital identity and stay safer online. Most internet users love a question and answer forum like Reddit or Quora, on the surface web.
To get on the dark web, you need a browser built for the job, and the best in the business is Tor. Tor is a browser engineered for extra security and privacy, and can be used to navigate the normal, surface web as well as the dark web. It blocks trackers, prevents user fingerprinting, encrypts data, and reroutes your browsing so no one can see where in the world you are. Your IP is still being revealed to one of the nodes in the onion, meaning your activity and identity can be unmasked. Although profiting from pirated copyrighted material is unethical and illegal, there are some exceptions to using copyrighted material, such as a “private study” provision under UK law.

The information shared on this platform is designed to keep out any curious or inexperienced actors. Therefore, it’s considered not only legitimate but also highly valuable to those who are part of this notorious forum. Moreover, Exploit dark web forum features a highly organized structure as well as membership policies that make it attractive to most threat actors. The controlled and professional landscape has led many people to view the forum as the most reliable source.
How Do I Get On Dark Web Sites?
Fortunately, there are trusted ways to verify whether a .onion link is legitimate. The Imperial Library is a hidden book repository filled with rare, controversial, and out-of-print materials that are hard to find elsewhere. It serves as an open-access digital archive with a focus on banned, historical, and suppressed works. Unlike typical libraries, it doesn’t track user behavior and offers .onion access to preserve reader privacy. It has earned its place as a respected underground knowledge vault.
These platforms are trusted by activists, reporters, and individuals in oppressive regimes who need to share sensitive information safely. The surface web refers to everything you can access using search engines like Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo — think news sites, social media platforms, and blogs. The deep web includes content that isn’t indexed by search engines, such as private databases, academic journals, medical records, or anything behind a login page. The dark web, however, is a small, intentionally hidden part of the deep web that requires special tools like the Tor Browser to access.