Google, the App Store, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp are the visible face of the Internet. But they only represent 10% of the Great Network. 90% of the Internet does not appear on search engines. This is what is known as the Deep Web, the Deep Internet.
In the Deep Web there are private websites, Internet of Things devices that are of no use to search engines, but also clandestine shops that sell illegal products, from drugs to weapons, or cyber-criminals' forums where hitmen are hired, or Trojans and ransomware are sold for spying and extortion.
In the dark alleys of the Deep Web, lies the Darknet. A black market where all kinds of prohibited products are traded. The Statista website has compiled the best-selling illegal products on the Darknet.
The main use of the Darknet, the illegal networks that are hidden in the Deep Web, is the purchase of drugs: cocaine, heroin, pills, and other prohibited products.
Using encrypted connections, proxies, and anonymous cryptomes such as Bitcoin, all these transactions are performed anonymously.
Deep Web
Fraud and forgery - 17% - Fraud and forgery
The Darknet is also used to hire people to forge documents, licenses, titles, and other papers.
Instruction Guides and Tutorials - 11%
Deep Web
No, this is not Office Tutorials or Gmail. We are talking about instruction manuals for preparing bombs or drugs, or instructions for learning how to use malware.
Drug-related chemicals - 11% - Drug-related chemicals
Chemical compounds with which drugs are prepared a la carte, or others are adulterated. It's one of the top selling illegal products on the Darknet.
Other - 7%
Minority but in some cases spooky activities, such as hiring hitmen or planning robberies.
Differences between Deep Web, Dark Web and Darknet
Medications - 3%
Deep Web
Sale of prescription drugs (sold by weight in the Darknet), such as Viagra. In many cases, counterfeit or adulterated.
Piracy and malware - 2%
Pirated software and games, and programs to infect computers with ramsonware, worms, and other malware.
Firearms and explosives - 1%
Deep Web
The black market in stolen or illegally sold arms also has its place in the Darknet.