Prague, Aug 24 (CTK) – More and more Czechs are using the ill-famed darknet, which can be accessed only with specific software, configurations or authorisation and is connected with illegal activities, but they mainly seek this medium to secure privacy, daily Pravo writes on Thursday.
The darknet is said to be a market place for criminals where they can trade in drugs, arms and child porn quite safely, but its use is broader, Pravo says.
Experts, addressed by Pravo, say people use the darknet since they are concerned about their digital footprints on the traditional Internet. “Facebook, for instance, is monitoring even movements of a mouse,” IT expert Ondrej Profant said.
The use of such data collected on the Internet is the most apparent in marketing, but it may also be interesting for security forces, Pravo writes.
It says there are no exact figures about the darknet use since the communication on it is encrypted and there are no digital footprints left or they are negligible.
Adrian Demeter, an expert of cyber security from Deloitte company, points to a considerable rise in the number of users of anonymous networks in general.
Surveys from the previous years show some 15,000 accesses to anonymous networks a day in the Czech Republic and their number is rising, on the basis of the analyses of the trading on virtual markets, Pravo says.
The paper describes the darknet as another, hidden layer of the “traditional” Internet. The users can only connect to it anonymously with encryption. They send demands that are “travelling through random communication knots,” which enables them to be invisible on the web.
The users need a special browser to enter the darknet and install the respective software that may be bought on the common Internet.
Experts agree that the darknet does not serve to illegal deals, such as drug trafficking, only. However, it is often used to circumvent local laws, Pravo writes.
In China, for instance, which applies a strong censorship in many civic life areas, the darknet enables access to free information.
“Journalists and activists are using it or people who want to publish something and remain anonymous,” IT expert Pavel Ruzicka told Pravo.
