The term dark internet, dark address, or dark web* refers to any or all of the unreachable network hosts on the Internet. It should not be confused with "deep web" or "darknet" which refer to dynamic content sites and illegal music sharing networks, respectively.

Causes

The most common cause of dark address space is router misconfiguration. Some military sites on the archaic MILNET address blocks also frequently fall into dark addresses. It is also speculated that hackers utilize malicious techniques to hijack private routers to either divert traffic or mask illegal activity.

Security issues

The dark internet received a lot of attention in 2001 when many security organizations, including Arbor Networks , identified rogue dark webs as a potential farm for denial-of-service attacks and other illegal activity.

Web or Internet?

* In the sense of this article,

Web = collection of interconnected documents

Internet = collection of interconnected computers

Strictly speaking, an internet is a collection of interconnected networks, which are themselves collections of interconnected computers.

See also

• World Wide Web
• Internet
• Deep web

External links

• The Dark Internet, a report from CR&T
• Trends in Denial of Service Attack Technology(PDF) from CERT (October 2001)
• Dark web space hides net nasties from vmunet (November 14, 2001)
• Expedition to the lost net from BBC (December 26, 2001)