The Dark Web's Darkest Websites

The dark web is often imagined as a hacker's domain—someone alone in a dim room, typing furiously through layers of encrypted code. But in reality, the dark web is simply a way of browsing privately, most commonly through a browser called Tor. Anyone can access it. And that's part of why it's so frightening. Because alongside people using it for ordinary private browsing, there are entire websites dedicated to humanity at its worst—drug trafficking, weapons markets, and content so depraved that the FBI hunts it daily. This episode explores four of those sites and the people behind them.

Dark Zone: A Marketplace for the Unthinkable

Dark Zone looks like what most people imagine a dark web site to be: sketchy ads for drugs and hacking services, a discussion board with categories like hacking tutorials and cryptocurrency, and a forum where users can post anything. Literally anything.

Some posts are predictable—offers to steal money or hack accounts. But between those are far darker threads. One user writes: "I am Brazilian, young, healthy and strong. I have a good study routine and commitment to my missions. Anyone interested in contacting me and recruiting me for services should send me a message." Another: "I would be willing to pay a lot of money to eliminate someone."