A darknet is an intranet within the internet. It is a layer on top which can only be accessed with specialized software or routing. It’s called “dark” because in the past they weren’t indexed by search engines (though that is not necessarily true anymore). Their main focus is anonymity and privacy, not allowing an individual to be identified through their connection.
Most people associate darknets with Tor but there are many other types active in the world today. Most, but not all, are free to use.
Darknets are networks that require special access permissions or configurations to be able to use them. For example, to access the Tor network, a user needs to connect via an Exit Node and use the Tor browser, which uses the Tor Hidden Service Protocol.
Alternatively, they could use Tor2Web, but it’s not recommended. The advantage of using Tor or Invisible internet Project (i2p) is that they can host services within their networks that are difficult to locate. Instead of using an IP address to connect, these services rely on routing through custom domain names, which the network converts into a location.
