Additional Tips to Stay Safe on the Dark Web

To boost your overall safety while navigating the dark web, it’s important to adhere to certain protective measures. The following are some recommended precautions to take:

• Use antivirus software. This will add a layer of protection to help keep you and your devices safe from cyberattacks. Keep up with the software updates — if a newer version comes out and you’re still running an old version, it won’t be equipped to block the latest cyber threats.
• Use a different email. Instead of using your actual email address, sign up for a different one you can use solely for your dark web activity. You can even get an encrypted email address — for example, through ProtonMail.
• Keep your identity private. Don’t use your real photo, phone number, or name. Don’t share any personally identifiable information or sensitive data while on the dark web.
• Use Bitcoin. Instead of using your credit cards, use Bitcoin — this offers an extra layer of anonymity when you make purchases on the dark web and protects you from having your financial information stolen. Also, exercise caution with services that demand upfront payment.
• Only shop on trusted sites. Research the sites you plan to make purchases through ahead of time. Research vendors thoroughly, read user reviews, and be skeptical of any too-good-to-be-true deals. Consider using escrow services to mitigate the risk of scams.
• Avoid add-ons. Tor automatically blocks some plug-ins (like Flash, RealPlayer, and Quicktime) — hackers have manipulated these to get users’ real IP addresses in the past since they are out of Tor developers’ control. Add-ons and browser extensions can also lead to tracking through browser fingerprinting.
• Cover your camera and your microphone. You can do this with a bit of opaque tape. This protects you from cybercriminals attempting to hijack your device to collect unsolicited recordings of you.
• Research sites before visiting them. Verify the reputation of a website or forum before accessing it, and only access links and websites you can trust. Subreddit sites like r/darkweb, r/tor can be helpful for this. Avoid suspicious or untrusted links that may lead to phishing sites or malware downloads. Additionally, don’t click on pop-ups, ads, or any suspicious requests.
• Open your downloads offline. If you download a file from the dark web, disable the internet before opening it. Opening it while you’re connected could potentially leak your real IP address.
• Use a security-focused OS. TAILS is one example — I recommend running it from a removable drive. This way, hackers will have a hard time identifying your computer on the Tor network.
• Disable JavaScript on your Tor browser. In 2013, hackers found a way to track users by accessing their session details, which JavaScript provided.
• Don’t change the size of your Tor window. This can lead to someone tracking you through browser fingerprinting.