The Tor network hosts onion sites. The Tor network is a series of interconnected nodes that allow private and anonymous use of the internet.
Its name comes from the initials of “The Onion Router,” while the websites hosted on the service have “.onion” as their domain ending.
Of course, you can't access Tor services or the websites it hosts using a regular browser. These websites are part of the invisible part of the internet known as the Deep Web. Darknets are the parts of the Deep Web that we hear about in the news.
Below we will see how you can access .onion websites and why you should do so?
How do you access a .onion page?
You can access Tor through the Tor browser. The Tor browser has modified the Mozilla Firefox browser with many built-in scripts and add-ons to protect your privacy while browsing these websites.
The Tor browser comes with default settings to connect to the Tor network, and the developers advise against using any compatible browser settings unless you know what you are doing. Take this “know what you are doing” very seriously because the Tor browser works differently than a regular browser, and any changes to the settings could expose your data to outside sources.
From the Tor Project website, download the Tor browser . Find the zip, and unzip the folder. Open the Tor Browser folder and double-click Start Tor Browser. The browser will check for updates. If there are, let the application upgrade.
There are other browsers that focus on privacy and anonymity. Also, is Tor all you need, or would a basic VPN do the job?
A quick warning
Onion sites, and the dark web in general, can host scary content. There is invaluable information on the Deep Web that you won’t find on the web, but a large part of the Dark Net contains harmful content.
Of course, the authorities already know that these websites exist and monitor them. Below we will see how you can find websites that interest you, but read each description carefully before clicking on any link!
How to find active .onion links
Google Search won't help you. Web crawlers (spiders) are bots that systematically search websites and index the content.
The Deep Web has similar indexing, but is not displayed by websites like Google. Below we will look at some search engines for Tor.
You should copy and paste the links below into the Tor browser and not into your regular browser.
The Hidden Wiki
The Hidden Wiki is a page for new visitors to the dark web. The linked page is from 2018. The older links on The Hidden Wiki are still there, but they contain several old websites and links that no longer work.
Deep Web Links – Dark Web Links
Another website that uses the name “Hidden Wiki”, but it is not the “official” page. However, it has a very large list of onion sites. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to verify how many of these sites are still operational. The search engine in question has a description of what each site is.
TORCH
It is a well-known Tor search engine. However, it does not function like a regular search engine. For example, using TORCH to search for the term “Facebook” will not return you the Facebook onion site, but a large list of posts on a Russian hacking forum.
Not Evil
If TORCH doesn't help you find what you're looking for, try Not Evil. Not Evil works more like a regular web search engine and is the successor to TorSearch (another Tor search engine) and Evil Wiki (another site).
For example, a search for "Facebook" will return the official rFacebook onion site.
Daniel Onion Link List and Raspberry Pi Directory
Daniel's Onion Link List is a Tor directory hosted on the Raspberry Pi. The list is a directory that gives you a brief description of each location, the last times the page was accessed and the last times it was tested, as well as when it first appeared on the Tor network.
Daniel's Onion Link List includes every type of page. Read the descriptions carefully before clicking on the links.
Tor Sale Safe
Most darknet users will tell you the same thing: don't believe everything you see. There are a lot of myths surrounding the Darknet. What you see may not be true, but if it is, you don't want to know.
The Tor network also hosts some really interesting and useful sites.
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