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According to the SpyCloud Identity Exposure Report 2025, the average consumer has 229 stolen identity records on the dark web. While dark web monitoring is essential for online safety, the real threat isn't the dark web itself — it's how cyber criminals use it. But what is the dark web, and how can you protect your details from being exposed? Find out in this article — and discover why dark web monitoring is an important part of your online protection.
Dark web definition: The dark web, also known as darknet, is an umbrella term for parts of the internet that are hidden and where users’ activities are anonymous and encrypted.
The dark web isn’t illegal: The dark web isn’t illegal in itself, but it can be used for both good and bad purposes.
Contents of the dark web: The dark web is often associated with illegal drug trade, spreading of illicit online material and other criminal activities, but it also serves as a forum for anonymous communication and free speech.
Accessing the dark web: Standard search engines can’t access the dark web, so users must download and use a specialized browser.
Identity theft: When data leaks onto the dark web, cyber criminals can buy, trade, and piece together information from different breaches to commit sophisticated identity theft.
Proactive security: You can’t manually remove your data from the dark web once it leaks, making continuous 24/7 identity monitoring and online security your primary lines of defense.
Get trusted security: F‑Secure Total is an award-winning security solution that alerts you to data leaks and suspicious activity on your accounts. Already 30 million people worldwide trust our security solutions.
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F‑Secure Total keeps your personal information safe from data breaches and the dark web.
Types of threats on the dark web
A common misconception is that if you never download a dark web browser, you are safe from its threats. When corporations, medical networks, or online stores suffer data breaches, cyber criminals can sell the data on the dark web.
Here’s what can happen if your data gets leaked on the dark web:
Identity theft: Massive collections of storable data, such as ID numbers, passport details, names, and addresses, are constantly traded.
Financial fraud: Millions of credit card numbers and banking login credentials are actively traded, enabling malicious actors to make unauthorized purchases.
Malware: The dark web is used to distribute different types of malware, ransomware, spyware and viruses.
Account takeover: Criminals buy old lists of credentials and run automated scripts to break into accounts across the web.
According to F‑Secure’s Scam Intelligence & Impacts Report 2026 (p. 13), 57% of US scam victims have lost money to scams. Financial fraud is a common consequence of your information being leaked on the dark web.
Difference between open, deep and dark web
The terms deep web and dark web can sometimes be difficult to distinguish, especially as they are often used interchangeably. Let’s look at the differences between these three separately.
The open web or surface web | The visible tip of the iceberg. It consists of pages indexed by traditional search engines, such as Google or Bing, and is easily accessed via web browsers like Chrome or Safari. |
The deep web | The massive body of the iceberg. It includes any page hidden behind a paywall, login wall, or security portal. Your online banking panel, corporate intranets, academic databases, and medical portals are included here for necessary privacy. |
The dark web | A tiny, highly specialized pocket at the very bottom of the deep web iceberg. It cannot be accessed via regular web browsers and is entirely hidden from search engines. |
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Tor is a popular dark web browser
To access the dark web, users often rely on a browser called Tor, short for The Onion Router. Originally developed by the US military in the 1990s to protect intelligence communications, the browser was later made available for regular users and typically features cryptic URLs ending in .onion.
Tor functions by bouncing your connection through multiple encrypted layers — like layers of an onion — across a global network of volunteer servers. This completely masks your real IP address and physical location.
While downloading and installing Tor is legal, it strips away the safety features of the modern web, leaving users without the search engine warning screens, automated script blocking and identity protections that standard browsers use to keep everyday browsing safe. Simply browsing it exposes users to specialized malware, drive-by downloads, and scams designed to hijack their standard system infrastructure.
Stay safe online with F‑Secure’s award‑winning security solutions
To protect your information from ending up on the dark web, we list five tips to improve your personal cyber security:
Use a VPN. Encrypt your traffic and mask your IP address to make it harder for cyber criminals to track you. Remember that a VPN alone does not make using the dark web safe, and using Tor together with a VPN is not advisable.
Use an antivirus program. The dark web is full of malware. Keep comprehensive antivirus protection active on all devices to block malicious downloads and spyware.
Stay alert to targeted scams. Phishing emails often use personal details bought from the dark web to look convincing. Treat unexpected messages with high suspicion.
Use a password manager. If you reuse passwords, a single dark web leak gives hackers access to your entire digital life. Use a password manager to ensure every account has a unique, uncrackable login.
Want to stay safe online?
F‑Secure Total keeps your personal information safe from data breaches and the dark web.
Frequently asked questions about the dark web
The dark web is an encrypted, hidden layer of the internet accessible only via specialized software. It provides total user anonymity, making it a hub for both privacy advocates and cybercrime.
The dark web cannot be accessed via standard browsers like Chrome or Safari. It requires specialized networks that route traffic through multi-layered encryption paths, significantly slowing connection speeds.
Using or accessing the dark web is not illegal in the United States. However, engaging in illegal activities, such as trading stolen data or downloading illicit content, remains entirely illegal.
True safety on the dark web is difficult because standard internet protections are absent. While a Tor browser masks your location, you must keep all scripts turned off, avoid downloading any files, and never enter real credit card numbers. For the average consumer, it is safer to secure your data on the standard web using a reliable VPN and antivirus instead.
Just browsing the dark web is not necessarily dangerous, but it can expose you to harmful material and criminal activity, such as malware, DDoS attacks and data breaches.
The dark web is used both for privacy and cybercrime. Legitimately, it provides a safe space for journalists, whistleblowers, and citizens seeking to bypass harsh state censorship. Illegitimately, it is used to distribute malware, host data-leak auctions, manage extortion payments, and trade illicit goods.
The dark web contains for example anonymous discussion forums, independent news sites without political influence, black markets for drugs and weapons, leaked corporate databases, and stolen personal credentials.
Visually, the dark web looks remarkably stripped down, outdated, and simple compared to the modern open web. Because encryption significantly reduces bandwidth, dark web pages generally lack high-definition videos or modern animations.
You cannot safely search for it yourself. Use F‑Secure Identity Theft Checker to check if your personal information is exposed on the dark web and receive a comprehensive breach report detailing what was exposed.
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