7 Scary Reasons Why You Need to Hide your Identity on the Dark Web

Why You Need to Hide your Identity on the Dark Web?

You might think that when you’re visiting websites on the dark web, who you are and what you’re doing stays an absolute secret. However, this is not always true.

With hackers getting much smarter than they were in the past, people are starting to see identity theft happening regularly and it’s scary.

So if anyone’s asking what your biggest fear is about the dark web; be honest: identity theft.

Luckily for everyone out there though, there are ways to protect yourself from these crimes happening to you – like using strong passwords or even downloading an anonymity tool like TOR (The Onion Router).

If you’re asking: just what is the dark web?

It’s a network that can’t be accessed without using TOR. It’s basically the place where online criminals hang out and do their dirty work, and some of them will even use your valuable information to commit crimes such as identity theft.

But if you think you don’t need to know anything about the dark web, think again: chances are your data might have been stolen already!

With user’s valuable information being stolen daily on the dark web, it’s obvious that something needs to be done to stop all these crimes from happening. However, preventing identity theft when using the dark web is not easy. In fact, it almost seems impossible. But there’s a simple way to prevent this from happening: hiding your identity.

If you’re asking: what is the best way to hide my identity on the dark web?

No one knows for sure, but if you want to protect your identity; keep reading; because we’re going to give you some tips on how to avoid this from happening.

Now, even though we mentioned that there are anonymous tools like TOR that can be used when accessing websites on the dark web, no one will experience complete anonymity when using these services.

This is because Tor and similar anonymity tools can’t make it impossible for anyone (including hackers) to identify who you are and where you live…but don’t take it from us, check out this article about Tor identities and who can still see your identity.

So if you’re asking: what are the 7 scary reasons why I need to hide my identity on the dark web?

Keep reading because we have a list for you.

1) You may get caught for buying drugs or other illegal stuff:

As most criminal activities are performed in this place, it’s of high interest to many authorities.

Websites like Silk Road, where drugs and other illegal stuff are openly sold, can be hijacked by police and other authorities using customized software. This software helps infiltrate the network and the website as well as analyze activity and discover user identities.

So, if you purchase such illegal stuff on these sites without or weakly hiding your identity, you are at high risk of getting caught and being punished according to your country’s law.

2) You may end in jail for exploring or talking against the government:

Apart from buying Illegal stuff websites, several other forums on this decentralized network where people love to share political ideologies mostly against the government. Such freedom of speech is handled differently in every country.

These forums are specially under-surveillance of authorities.

Evading government restrictions to share or even explore new political ideologies can lead you to jail or other severe punishment.

So, it would be best if you took all the possible measures to hide your identity before visiting such platforms.

3) You may become a government target for the rest of your life:

Even if you didn’t make any purchase from websites like Silk Road but your identity was somehow exposed, you may come under the watch list of the government or other authorities.

They are going to watch and may incriminate you for other activities later in life.

4) Malware:

Apart from illegal stiff, this place is also a haven for hackers, and there is quite a high chance you may fall into their trap by clicking on the deceptive links.

Hackers use different hacking techniques and programs, including phishing malware, ransomware, key loggers, and botnet malware.

They can be avoided more effectively on websites on the surface web as they are bound to social contracts. However, this is not the case on the dark web. 

While surfing the dark web, hackers can more easily trick you. And if you fell prey and exposed your identity. They are more likely to get their hands on your important and personal data, including passwords, private photos and videos, and other documents.

Later this data can be misused in considerable ways.

5) You may end up losing money:

Besides losing your personal and important data, the aforementioned hacking tricks can put your online bank accounts or other financial information at risk.

Hackers can use the tools like key loggers to trace your bank account details or credit card details and steal all your hard-earned money.

6) You may get punished for the other’s crimes:

Apart from your media and financial information, the hackers are smart enough to access your Social Security number, driver’s license, or passport numbers. This information can be misused by hackers themselves or just share with other evil people on the internet.

For example, Fraudsters can use your security number, driver’s license, or passport numbers to create fake bank accounts or virtual credit cards by your name and use it for illegal purchases. And you may be punished for the crimes you haven’t committed.

7) You are more prone to ransomware like RYK:

It is usually recommended not to download software or other stuff from suspicious or untrusted websites, even from the surface web. The same is the case for the dark web.

Most of the dark web users are lured to download illegal or explicit videos or images usually not available on the surface web. This is where they are fooled and download viruses out of curiosity.

Such viruses can expose your identity and can corrupt data on the device you are using. You have to format your hard drive and reinstall the windows and lose your essential data in the process.

Some viruses like RYK ransomware can also encrypt data into an unusable format using a cryptography algorithm on your computer.

Besides, the hacker also leaves a message demanding a hefty amount to decrypt your data into a usable form. And you are left with no choice other than to pay them.

FAQs

Question # 1: What kind of sites can I find on the dark web?

Answer: Dark web contains a variety of websites, including:

• The Hidden Wiki: a dark web Wikipedia;
• Silk Road: eBay like e-commerce store for drugs and other illegal stuff;
• Stolen Information: There are tons of websites on the dark web where hackers are ready to share or sell others’ stolen personal or financial data.
• There are many other websites that sell weapons, as well as explicit, illegal images and videos;
• There are forums for anonymous people who love to discuss their country’s politics. And much more.

Question # 2: How do I get to the dark web?

Answer: To get into the dark web, you need to download and install a dark web browser, like the Tor browser. Once installed, you can use it as a regular web browser to explore hidden websites.

Question # 3: Is the dark web legal?

Answer: Dark web is itself legal. However, you may find websites there which sell or share illegal stuff.

Question # 4: How to protect your identity on the dark web?

Answer: There are several ways to protect yourself from identity theft on the dark web, including:

• Educate yourself with all the possible preventive measures for hacking techniques available on the internet before accessing the dark web.
• Avoid using Public Wi-fi or other public network.
• Use Anti-virus, firewalls, anti-malware, and other online protection software before accessing the dark web. 
• Look for spam looking emails, spam phone calls, or unknown financial transactions, as they are some of the early indicators for identity theft.
•  Don’t use the same or weak password for every account.
• Use Credit Monitoring System to keep a closer look at your financial transactions.
• Don’t put your sensitive or personal information like SSN on the websites.
• Stay away from shady websites and links by avoiding clicks on them.
• Don’t open email attachments.

Question # 5: What is sold on the dark web?

Answer: Dark web is mainly a black market where stuff like drugs, weapons, illegal porn, stolen credit card details, target-killing services, and other illegal stuff is sold.

The bottom line is this:

If you’re using the dark web to purchase goods or services, you need to be careful not to share too much information that could potentially be used against you. And if you’re using the dark web to commit a crime, the chances are you’ll be caught and held responsible for what happened.