10 Life Hacks Every Darknet User Should Know
The dark web has earned its ominous and frightening name for a reason. It’s a place where all sorts of illegal and nefarious activity takes place, and also a place where internet users can escape government censorship and draconian surveillance. Accessing the dark web isn’t particularly difficult , but don’t head there without doing your research. Whether you’re visiting an unfamiliar place in real life, you need to know how to stay safe and get the most out of your trip, and the same applies to the dark web. So follow these tips and tricks to maximize your chances of staying safe and making the most of what the dark web has to offer.
Use IP Leak to keep your IP address hidden.
As with the regular internet, using a VPN on the darknet is optional, but recommended. However, before browsing the darknet, even with a VPN enabled, you should also check for IP leaks.
Simply put, an IP leak is when your actual online location is revealed to the websites you connect to—something you should avoid on the dark web. This could be caused, for example, by a malicious website script or browser extension. It’s easy to do: simply visit the IP Leak website and check if the displayed IP address matches your location. As an added bonus, the site checks for leaks via WebRTC and DNS protocols, which can also reveal your location more indirectly.
To avoid fingerprints, resize your browser window.
Tor and your VPN of choice can hide much about your identity, but you’re still vulnerable to fingerprint identification while on the darknet. The darknet uses information transmitted by your computer—such as your operating system, system time, and even installed fonts—to identify you.
Another important parameter used for fingerprint identification is your monitor size: if your browser window fills the entire screen, an attacker can determine what monitor or device you’re using. Tor uses some tricks to try to hide this, but you can help by not maximizing your browser window (and perhaps resizing it periodically).
Use the New Identity feature to hide your true identity online.
Tor includes a feature that’s not immediately obvious, but it allows you to change your virtual identity with just a couple of clicks. It’s like disappearing into the bathroom and then reappearing in a different guise—disconnecting from whatever you were doing in the browser before.
Click the menu button (three horizontal lines in the upper right corner), then select “New Account.” All open tabs will be closed, and the browser will restart. To restore access to the network, you will be redirected through other Tor channels, and all previous browsing data and cookies will be deleted.
Use Dangerzone to safely open files on the dark web.
In general, it’s best to avoid downloading anything from the dark web whenever possible: it’s full of malware, scams, and other unwanted content. However, there may be situations where you need to open a document provided to you by a trusted person.
All files you need to open should be opened through Dangerzone . This program essentially creates a protective sandbox around PDFs, images, and Office documents, removing any malicious or tracking data. The result is a cleaned file that has passed security checks and can be opened normally.
Add a bridge for extra safety.
For ease of use, you can configure Tor to connect to the network via a specific path, hiding your identity and location through a series of recognizable nodes. If you want to go even further, you can also add a bridge to the connection chain.
Standard Tor nodes (or relays) still report your IP address, although it won’t be your actual IP address. Bridges don’t exchange IP addresses at all, making it even more difficult to track your identity and activities. They are especially useful in countries where known Tor relays may be blocked by authorities.
In the Tor Browser, click the menu button (three horizontal lines in the upper-right corner), then select “Settings” > “Connection” to set up a bridge. Use the “Request Bridges” feature to request a bridge link from the official Tor bot, or use links from the web or Telegram to find a suitable bridge.
Use pluggable vehicles to hide from your internet service provider.
Pluggable transport protocols are a special type of Tor bridge: in addition to additional IP masking and censorship-fighting measures, pluggable transport protocols hide the fact that you’re actually using Tor from your ISP. They’re often used as a next step in areas where the Tor network is blocked.
To configure a pluggable transport bridge within Tor, click the menu button (the three horizontal lines in the upper-right corner), then select “Settings” > “Connection .” Click “Choose a built-in bridge” to choose from the available pluggable transport protocols, each of which has a description of how they work.
Complete other tasks and applications before accessing the dark web.
If you access the darknet via Tor, close all other applications on your system: clear the memory of all applications, even if they are only running in the background (Task Manager in Windows and Activity Monitor in macOS can help with this).
Running applications not only help identify your system to create a “digital fingerprint” (see the window resizing tip above), but also make you more vulnerable to malicious websites and malware you may encounter on the dark web. The more programs you have running besides Tor, the larger the attacker’s target area.
Use tools to create a “dark web persona”.
All the security and anonymity measures used by Tor and VPNs are somewhat compromised if you simultaneously log into your regular accounts (such as Amazon and Instagram) and browse the dark web. This increases the risk of your credentials being stolen and you being identified as an individual user.
Some darknet users establish rules for creating a completely new online persona to make it more difficult for their true identities to be revealed. This can include logging on at different times, using different devices, and possibly even different Wi-Fi networks. Any overlap with your “normal” internet usage increases the risk.
This also applies to email addresses and usernames: use different addresses on the dark web than your usual ones. You can get temporary email addresses from many providers, including DuckDuckGo and Apple .
Use Tor’s “most secure” mode to restrict what websites can do.
The Tor browser has a “maximum security” level that blocks most website activity, such as scripts and media playback. It’s disabled by default and may impact website functionality (they’ll typically appear much simpler), but if you want maximum security, it’s an option.
Click the menu button (three horizontal lines), then Settings > Privacy & Security , and select Edit under Security . Select Most Secure to set Tor to its most secure mode, then click Save and Restart .
Connecting via Tails OS provides an additional level of security.
Accessing the darknet via Tor on Windows or macOS provides reliable protection. And using the Linux-based Tails portable operating system significantly increases the level of protection.
Tails runs either from a USB drive or through a virtual machine, meaning any malware that manages to penetrate your defenses won’t be able to reach your main operating system and everything installed on it. (Everything on the OS runs through the Tor platform, not just the browser.) This will require some time, but it’s worth the extra effort if you want maximum security. Tails offers a detailed getting started guide.