Failure to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) when browsing the dark web will expose you to monitoring by law enforcement who can track your activities. This will provide them with an opportunity to know your real IP address and discover the dirty secrets of platforms that you’ve been visiting.
Point to note, while dark web access by any user is not considered to be an illicit activity from the standpoint of law enforcement, visiting hidden sites raises suspicions by the authorities – the dark web has a longstanding bad reputation as the ultimate meeting place for classes of criminals, starting from petty drug offenders to notorious child sex abuse masterminds.
Therefore, if you are pretty new to the dark web, you stand a chance to benefit from our list of easy-to-use VPNs that cater for newbies and experienced users alike. This is especially important for market admins and vendors that should take the further step of using Tor over Tails or Qubes-Whonix.
You may be surprised that it’s actually a bad idea to visit the dark web using the Tor browser in Windows or iOS. It turns out that while using Windows, chances of getting de-anonymized through simple file downloads are high.
Having said that, here’s our list of VPNs for dark web noobs:
IVPN
IVPN is based in Gibraltar, which is one of the territories of the United Kingdom.
The location of its headquarters may actually be a good selling point considering that Gibraltar is not a member of the world’s major data surveillance alliances such as Five Eyes, Nine Eyes and 14 Eyes.
Gibraltar also enjoys protection as espoused in the General Data protection Regulation. In addition, VPN’s are legal in the territory – the attribute is reflected by the fact that IVPN has 100 servers spread across more than 12 global locations.
Another positive attribute is that IVPN encrypted data multiple times through more than one server, and a kill switch ensures that your data remains protected during instances of system failure.
This important feature is coupled with the fact that the VPN’s logging policy is designed such that IVPN will only store your email address and payments information – nothing about your online traffic or activity will be kept. This means that users on a public WiFi network will enjoy a truly private experience without having to worry about being tracked by a third party.
However, it is important to note that some law enforcement circumstances may require IVPN to allow the UK to monitor its online activities.
The other downside is that IVPN focuses on security without considering online streaming lovers. As such, you will not be able to torrent on U.S. servers and it turns out that the VPN will also bar you from accessing Netflix services.
To begin using IVPN, click HERE.
Mullvad
Mullvad VPN has made a name for itself for offering radical transparency in its business operations that cater to a wide variety of users. This attribute adds to their offering of high levels of privacy when compared head-to-head with other VPNs in the market.
The VPN also adheres to a strict no-logs policy that assures users that their online activities will not be stored – such storage may lead to major problems along the way if law enforcement arm-twist the company to provide open access to their servers.
Apart from being extremely transparent, as mentioned already, you will love Mullvad’s simple and clear pricing framework which easens the process of accessing VPn services in the context of inexperienced dark web users.
The biggest advantage of using Mullvad is that you’ll not be required to provide any personal identifiable information to open and use an account. This, however, is dependent on the payment method that you’ll choose.
Nonetheless, the VPN is not without some shortcomings. Apart from the fact that it only supports five connected devices per user, Mullvad lacks a dedicated IP address add-on.
Additionally, the account recovery process on this VPN may be a nightmare in cases where a user loses their login details. The low number of servers may turn out to be a disadvantage in cases of huge workloads on the system.
Click HERE to begin using Mullvard VPN.
Perfect Privacy
Perfect Privacy VPN boasts a number of advantages that would appeal to both inexperienced and experienced dark web users.
First, the fact that its headquarters are based in Switzerland indicates that it’s not a member of any international surveillance alliances, which may result in law enforcement interference of the tool along the way.
The VPN does not store information concerning their users’ online activities and traffic. This ensures privacy without any fear that the tool is keeping track of your actions across darknet spaces.
Like IVPN, Perfect Privacy has a kill-switch that ensures that even if your connection is lost, the tool will kill your browsing windows as a measure of data protection.
Nonetheless, many users may be put off by the VPN’s expensive nature. Subscriptions begin from $10, which is a steep price in comparison to others that charge only $3. In addition, the VPN’s latency increase of more than 160 percent means that Windows users will suffer significantly low speeds on their computers.
Click on this LINK to begin using Perfect Privacy.
Bonus: Create Your Own VPN
Aside from using either of the above listed VPNs, the other option would be for you to create your own VPN.
To do this, you will have to purchase a VPS, use OpenVPN to create your own VPN and share with other users. Considering that you’ll be creating a custom tool, a VPN company will not be actively looking for TOR users, although setting up seems hectic.
If you are getting lost already, this post on Dread forum has attempted to provide a step-by-step guide on how you can pull this off.
Here are the main steps:
1- Create a new email.
2- Buy a VPS with Monero.
3- Install OpenVPN on that server.
4- Share your VPN in dark web forums as free VPN.