There’s a place lurking beneath the Internet you use every day.It’s a hidden underbelly, home to both rogues and political activists, and accessed only with the help of specially designed anonymizing software. It’s a secretive place, where Arab Spring dissidents can hide their digital tracks, a place where whistleblowers can reach out safely to scoop-seeking media outlets. And, yes, it’s also a dangerous place, where a lot of illicit, underground nastiness occurs.There, you’ll find a society that lurks intentionally in the blind spots of search engines. Some call it the Darknet. All call it hard to reach — though it’s hardly impregnable, given last week’s news of security vulnerabilities, as well as site takedowns following the arrest of an alleged pornographer. Like a demilitarized zone or a lawless land, it’s not a place most people visit — nor should they. But by the time you’re done reading this article, you’ll know more about this shadowy, parallel online universe than Bing or Yahoo ever will.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2046227/meet-darknet-the-hidden-anonymous-underbelly-of-the-searchable-web.html