The shadow segment of the Internet was reduced by 85%

The number of resources of the shadow segment of the Internet over the year has decreased by almost 85%. This conclusion was reached by researchers from the Onionscan project, dedicated to the collection and analysis of information on the use of anonymous networks, writes RBC .

As the study of Onionscan showed, since April 2016, the number of resources on the Tor network has decreased from 30 thousand to 4.4 thousand. According to analysts, such a significant decrease in the number of sites is associated with the cyber attack on the underground hosting provider Freedom Hosting II, which was carried out by Anonymous, due to the placement of children's pornography. The report notes that after this attack, thousands of active sites disappeared from the Tor network.

Another reason for reducing the shadow segment of the network in Onionscan is called the cessation of the work popular in the darknet of the Sigain mail service.

According to Gizmodo , posting a site on the shadow Internet is a difficult task for most users. The Tor network simplifies this task, but at the same time creates additional security threats, since the anonymity and confidentiality of users can be compromised.

Recall that the Tor network is a system of proxy servers that allows you to install an anonymous connection protected from listening. Tor technology provides protection against traffic analysis mechanisms that jeopardize not only the user's Internet anonymity, but also the confidentiality of commercial secrets, business contacts, etc.

The Tor system was created in the US Navy laboratory on federal order. In 2002, this development was decided to declassify this development, and the initial texts were transferred to independent developers who created a client-server application and published the source code under a free license.