I Use Private Web Browsers-Do You?

Since the creation of the World Wide Web, or “www” for short, Web Browsers have become essential software to explore the Web. Web Browsers help extract information from the Web. It is a software application program that helps Users to search, reach and explore websites. Web Browsers are only as popular as their usefulness, and ease of operation. Some may last for decades while others disappear from public perception in a year. The first modern browser was called ‘Mosaic’ and was discontinued in 1997. Mozilla is derived from Mosaic. Another browser which was at the top just 10 years ago, called Netscape, has completely vanished from use today. Longevity is not the essential criteria of a browser, but rather, it is the features that earn browsers the pride of place. Private browsers have been developed, individually, for specific systems, but now are used universally because of their scope, adaptability and built-in security. The list of the Best Private Web Browsers (Firefox, Brave, Etc.) is therefore a moveable feast, and constantly changes with time.

What is a Private Web Browser?

Privacy has become important in modern web browsing. Snoopers can use browsing information to damage the User’s security and even cause loss. It is therefore becoming important to ensure the privacy of the Users, so that Snoopers with access to the PC or Mobile device do not have access to the User’s browsing history or data. Data from a browsing session is not leaked to others who are using the same device or even hacking from the Internet directly. Browsers with the privacy feature can also prevent websites from using ‘Cookies’ stored on the PC to track the User’s visits. Private browsing is essential to protect the User from harm by keeping Passwords safe, saving data, preventing corruption of data by Hacking, and so on. It allows the User to browse the web without leaving any traces such as local data that can later be retrieved.

Private Web Browsers, Galore

Most Users are conservative, and stick to the browsers that came with their PCs or mobile devices. For example, Internet Explorer, which is well-known as a browser because it is included in the software package of almost every Windows PC, has therefore become the most popular web browser. Similarly, for Users of Apple’s devices, running on Mac, Safari is the go to private web browser. But the modern scene here, has become flexible, as users have become adventurous, innovative and security conscious.You don’t need a private browser strictly for browsing naughty adult sites or free sex apps. Private browsers are about protecting your information and ability for companies to specifically target you based on your browsing behavior.

Selecting The Best

The list of the Best Private Web Browsers (Firefox, Brave, Etc.) at the present moment could be as follows:

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • Google Chrome
  • Apple Safari
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Opera
  • Maxthon

The Future

The future of private web browsing now seems to belong to a new Brower. Developed through Google Chrome and called the SRWare Iron Browser, this is an important browser that guarantees the level of privacy and security when surfing the Web. It is available for free for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.


The Silk Road Explained

MARKET ROAD THROUGH WEB DARKNESS

Just as the Electronic Age has been superseded by the Digital Age, the Age of the Internet has superseded them all. The Internet is a worldwide telecommunications network. Using a system of telephone lines, cables, satellites and wireless connectivity, it connects PCs and other devices to the World Wide Web. Modern PCs as well as Mobile phone devices such as Smart Phones, Laptops, Tablets and some TVs, can all connect to the Internet. Internet is therefore, a global digital WAN (Wide Area Network). Many data lines with high bandwidth comprise the backbone of the Internet. These data lines connect efficiently to the Internet Hubs that are responsible to distribute data to ISPs and Web Servers. The Internet is gradually beginning to take over the complete communications of all human civilizations. The main advantage of the Internet is that it is able to connect billions of PCs and similar devices to each other. Sharing information between Users and the ability for automation are the two main advantages. Apart from the fact that communication is not only much easier, but also vastly cheaper, with the Internet. However, for all its benefits, the internet is often deemed to be intrusive, and unable to ensure privacy or security to information or communication. The need for secrecy is felt, not only by private citizens, but also by large institutions like Banking Services. But the most disturbing aspect of this need for secrecy is that, it has spawned the Dark Web. This in-turn has raised a critical question – What was the Silk Road Market Place on the Dark Web?

The Dark Web Beckons

The Dark Net is a network of sites whose contents are encrypted. The software encrypts User traffic. The Dark Web talks about a wide array of content which is kept invisible for the day to day World Wide Web browsing. The encrypted content is accessible only through a secure browsing tool, like TOR, which passes the User’s IP address through a set of complex TOR nodes to provide absolute secrecy to User/s. The Dark Web was not originally a criminal network. In-fact in the mid 1990s, it was the US Navy which developed it for the Government. But in 2004, it was Open Sourced and it went public. Now TOR is the preferred Dark Web browser that the majority of people use to surf the Dark Web anonymously. A number of criminal activities use the Dark Web to communicate without intrusion, which is why it is now being investigated by the Law and Police of many countries.

Silk Road In The Darkness

The original Silk Road stretched for thousands of miles from China to Europe. It was in the open, and there were never any attempt to hide the route from travelers. Except for the dangers inherent in travelling in those days, trading on the Silk Road was fully legal, though of course permission from the Trading Posts had to be sought. But the Silk Road on the Dark Net was a completely different proposition. This Silk Road led to an online Black Market, which has been since widely denoted as the first modern Dark Net Market, majorly said to be the best platform to sell illegal drugs. Visitors to this Market were protected, with anonymity, by the TOR hidden service. Online Users easily browsed this market while remaining anonymous and secure without monitoring of traffic.

The Silk Road Market Place

But the question about the nature of the Silk Road and the Dark Web had not yet been answered. What was the Silk Road Market Place on the Dark Web? The answer to this question was shocking indeed. The hidden market on the Dark Net was being used for the worst kind of criminal activities, like a platform for selling Illegal Drugs, Counterfeit Money, Fake Birth Certificates and Fake IDs. Finally, when it was found that there was also this massive flow in the trading of illegal armaments to suspicious buyers, with the potential of huge disturbances, the FBI was put in charge of the investigation, supported by the International Police fraternity such as InterPol. It was found that the pseudonym of the owner of the Silk Road Market place was someone called ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’. The man behind the pseudonym managed to operate it from sometime in 2011 up-to September 2013, when he was finally caught by the FBI. Known as the Silk Road 2.0, this market place was actually owned by the man behind the pseudonym, Ross William Ulbricht.

At The End

The Silk Road creator was finally sentenced to Life in Prison without Parole. The judgment was delivered in 2015. Some of the other most disturbing activities on the Silk Road market place on the Dark Web have been found to be Trafficking of Human Organs, Murder for Hire, Networks of Terrorists etc.