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Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
Impact Factor: 1.3
5-Year Impact Factor: 1.7

Restricted access
Research article
First published online March 11, 2023
The Dark Web: What Is It, How to Access It, and Why We Need to Study It
Fawn T. Ngo [email protected], Catherine Marcum, and Scott BelshawView all authors
and affiliations
Volume 39, Issue 2
https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862231159774

Contents
Abstract
References
Biographies
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Abstract
The dark web is a subsection of the deep web that conventional search engines
cannot index. As an encrypted network of websites, the dark web can only be
accessed using special browsers such as Tor. Tor, formerly an acronym for “The
Onion Router,” is a free and open-source software intended to protect the personal
privacy of its users and keep their internet activities unmonitored. While the dark
web is known for both legitimate and illegitimate purposes, it remains notorious
for facilitating illegal and deviant activities ranging from drug dealing to child
pornography, human trafficking, arms dealing, and extremist recruitment.
Accordingly, researching and understanding the dark web is a critical and essential
step in fighting and preventing cybercrime. However, studying the dark web poses
unique challenges. This special issue seeks to provide a platform for researchers
and criminologists to share and discuss research designs and methods that help shed
light on the actual activity going on in the dark web’s shadowy realms.
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References
Andrews E. (2019, October 28). Who invented the internet?
https://www.history.com/news/who-invented-the-internet
Google Scholar
Avast Academy. (n.d.). The dark web browser: What is Tor, is it safe, and how to
use it. https://www.avast.com/c-tor-dark-web-browser
Google Scholar
Dune L. (2014, January 23). The inside story of Tor, the best internet anonymity
tool the government ever built. Bloomberg Businessweek.
https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek
Google Scholar
Gupta A., Maynard S. B., Ahmad A. (2019). The dark web phenomenon: A review and
research agenda. Association for Information Systems.
https://aisnet.org/default.aspx
Google Scholar
Hong N. (2015, February 4). Silk road creator found guilty of cybercrime. The Wall
Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/
Google Scholar
Neeva. (2022, April 5). Web browser vs. search engines: Understanding the
differences. https://neeva.com/learn/web-browser-vs-search-engine-understanding-
the-differences
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Online Library Learning Center. (n.d.). A brief history of the internet.
https://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit07/internet07_02.phtml
Google Scholar
Quintin C. (2014). 7 things you should know about Tor. Electronic Frontier
Foundation. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/7-things-you-should-know-about-
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SiteSaga. (2022, September 26). What is a website and how does it work?
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Google Scholar
Weiser B. (2015, February 4). Man behind silk road website is convicted on all
counts. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/
Google Scholar
Biographies
Fawn T. Ngo is Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of South
Florida. Dr. Ngo’s research interests include criminological theory, victimology,
cybercrime prevention, and evaluative research. Her work has appeared in the
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Justice Quarterly, Crime and
Delinquency, Journal of Criminal Justice, and Victims & Offenders.
Cathy Marcum is the Chair of the Department of Government and Justice Studies at
Appalachian State University, and a Professor of Criminal Justice. She received her
Ph.D. in Criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2008. Since that
time, she has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles, as well as 11 authored/co-
authored books and 13 edited books. Her areas of expertise include cybercrime
offending and victimization, offender reentry, and sexual victimization during
incarceration.
Scott Belshaw is currently an Associate professor of Criminal Justice at the
University of North Texas. He has published research in numerous academic journals
such as Criminal Justice Review, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Journal of
Criminal Justice Education, and Crime and Delinquency. He is the current founder
and director of the Cyber Forensics Lab at the University of North Texas. His
research interests include Gas Pump Fraud, Cybercrimes and security, and the Dark
Web. He is the author and co-author of books on cybersecurity such as Dark Web
Unfiltered (Kendall Hunt, 2020) and Cyber Security Essentials: Understanding Risks
and Controls (Kendall Hunt, 2022).
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Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
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Online ISSN: 1552-5406
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