Dark Web 

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Latest news on the dark web (also darknet, dark net and deep web), covering Tor and the Tor browser, onion sites, darknet markets, dark web marketplaces, black markets, leak sites, stolen data and credentials, hackers, cybercrime, dark web monitoring and law enforcement takedowns.

The dark web is the part of the internet that can be reached only with special software, such as the Tor browser, I2P or Freenet. It is not the same as the deep web, which covers any page that search engines do not index, such as online banking. Tor sends traffic through volunteer relays, and its sites end in .onion. Using privacy tools is lawful in many countries, but trading in illegal goods is not.

Law enforcement keeps targeting criminal marketplaces. In October 2026 a co-creator of the Empire Market was sentenced to 40 years in a US federal court, and the Department of Justice said the market had facilitated more than $430 million in sales. Ransomware groups and hacktivists also publish stolen data on leak sites, and organisations check whether staff or customer details are being sold.

The same technology has legitimate uses. SecureDrop, an open source system run by a US non-profit, lets sources contact news organisations through Tor onion services. Privacy-minded users add tools such as encrypted messaging, PGP encryption and cryptocurrency payments. Security firms offer dark web monitoring that searches for leaked passwords and personal details.

Journalists, privacy campaigners, researchers and people living under censorship use anonymity networks. Police and some regulators argue that anonymity helps criminals sell drugs, hacking tools and abuse material. Privacy advocates reply that anonymity protects dissidents and ordinary users, and that surveillance risks outweigh the benefit. Threat intelligence analysts also watch forums for early signs of data breaches.

US Naval Research Laboratory scientists designed onion routing in the mid-1990s, and the Tor network was deployed in October 2002. The Silk Road marketplace was shut down in 2013, and AlphaBay and Hansa were taken down in July 2017 in Operation Bayonet. German authorities closed Hydra Market in April 2022. In April 2023 Operation Cookie Monster seized Genesis Market and led to 119 arrests.

Keeping up with fast-moving cybercrime matters. Our NewsNow dark web news feed gathers the latest headlines on the dark web, Tor, darknet markets, leak sites, stolen data and takedowns from reliable sources worldwide, so you have a comprehensive, up-to-date view.