Guide to the creation of a deep web site through Tor hidden services, taking care of the installation of the webserver and the generation of the .onion domain
In the past I had made a guide on how to browse the deep web . It was basically a Tor installation guide with little Deep Web insights. Now, however, I want to walk you through how to create a Deep Web site, to see how it works on the other side of the fence .
Contents of the article
- Why create a Deep Web site
- Is Tor really safe and anonymous?
- Requirements for the operation
- How to Create a Deep Web Site: Step by Step Guide
- Generating a .onion site
- PRIVACY IS A RIGHT, STAY INFORMED TO MAKE SURE YOU CONTINUE TO BE A RIGHT
Why create a Deep Web site
The deep web has always been associated in the media with a trough of illegal or criminal sites. In reality it is much more.
While it is true that we can find websites with illegal content in various countries, it is one of the main methods of sensitive information disclosure as while a website is easily blocked by a country or an organization, a site in the deep web can only be reached via the Tor Browser and is therefore not conventionally lockable.
Governments, NGOs, refugees, bloggers, journalists and all those people who want to disclose information without the risk of the ownership of the site being associated with their person and without the need to register a domain I can use the deep web sites to generate information in safe way.
Is Tor really safe and anonymous?
I advise against anyone from improvising themselves as a hacker or engaging in illegal activities on the network and I am against any kind of activity of this type.
But if your intent is to have confidential and secure communication , perhaps to manage company information via a truly secure extranet or if you are a journalist or blogger in countries at risk (such as Iran, China, etc.), it is a safe way, if combined with a VPN, to be nearly untraceable.
If they caught Assange and Snowden, they can catch you too, get over it.
That said, the best possible use of TOR is obviously in conjunction with a VPN. As you will start going to TOR when your data traffic is already encrypted and your IP address is anonymous.
Having said that , let’s see how it is possible to create a Deep Web site anywhere in the world, using Tor’s hidden services .
A bit like DJ Aphex Twin did, who published a site related to his latest album on the deep web (site: http://syro2eznzea2xbpi.onion , obviously accessible via TOR )
Requirements for the operation
- TOR browser: https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en
- A Web Server tobe installed on your computer. I Apache via WAMP: http://www.wampserver.com/en/
- A text editorfor editing files. I use Context (it’s free): http://www.contexteditor.org/index.php
- An internet connection
How to Create a Deep Web Site: Step by Step Guide
Install Context
It is a notepad-like text editor but also manages the “invisible” spaces that you would not normally see with notepad, it also maintains the formatting of the file.
Install the web server for TOR: WAMP
To have an externally accessible website, you need a server that handles user requests. When a user enters your website, the web server will look for the site’s files on your computer to show them to your readers.
The server I will use is Apache and I will install it via the all in one WAMP package.
Install WAMP.
It will install a set of packages and tools, the MYSQL server (a database that you can use if you make websites like wordpress or others), the Apache web server and PHP.
Once installed you can launch WAMP from the icon that will be created on your desktop and it will start running in the bottom bar of Windows.
Execution ends positively if the icon is GREEN.
A typical problem is that the icon remains orange, meaning there is a problem.
In 99% of cases the problem is that the port the web server wants to use is being used by something else.
By default the port used is port 80, but this port is often used by other services (such as skype).
How to change the port used by Wamp
Click on the WAMP icon, select Apache> httpd.conf
If you have Context installed, the Apache configuration file will open to you in an orderly fashion.
Go inside the file with the search function, and search for: Listen
You will find two lines starting with Listen
Both will end up with port 80, the one that uses basic Apache.
Change that port with a new one you like that is not used in your pc.
I used port 8383, you can too.
Then look for the Localhost line
Also here it will be associated with port 80, change the port with the one decided above, in my case 8383.
Save
Restart WAMP and at 99% the problem will be solved and you will see the green icon .
Install Tor
Download and install TOR Browser wherever you want.
At first launch it will ask you whether or not you are in a proxy protected network.
If you are not, click the first button, otherwise configure a proxy to exit the local network.
At that point Tor will launch and hopefully you will have the classic Tor welcome page (Congratulations, green background).
You can browse the Deep Web or traditional sites.
Obviously the connection is slower.
Now we are missing the part where we are going to generate our .onion web address and our private key.
Generating a .onion site
Unlike normal websites, like mine, where you can choose the name of the site you prefer, with .onion websites (those of the TOR network), the domain is generated randomly through a unique encryption key for each instance of TOR (your key, generated when you run TOR).
Therefore your domain will consist of a set of random letters and will end with .onion (like that of Aphex Twi syro2eznzea2xbpi.onion)
Obviously the websites of the tor .onion network are not visible on traditional browsers but only through the Tor Browser.
What we will have to do is go and edit the torrc file via Context or notepad
This file can be found in the Tor installation folder (where you installed it).
And in a series of sub-folders: Tor Browser> Browser> TorBrowser> Data> Tor
Once opened this file can contain various things like being empty.
We will have to define a folder where we will generate our encryption key and our web address and define the port that TOR will use to port forward the WAMP server port (the 8383 set above) to the outside.
First of all create a folder where you want on your computer (that you can read / write) and mark where it has been placed.
In my case h: \ hiddenservices, you put information on your disk and folder.
# Hidden Service
HiddenServiceDir h:\hiddenservices
HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:8383
Save, close TOR and relaunch it.
If you have not made port errors and the folder exists (it must be created by you first), the 2 files mentioned above will be generated inside it .
The private_key file is your encryption key.
If it falls into someone’s hand, they can basically decrypt whoever is behind your site, if it ever happens, delete the files in this folder, relaunch TOR, in doing so you will create a new key and a new hostname.
The hostname file contains within it your much-needed .onion web address
Testing and modifications
To see if the operation went well, copy your website address and run it on the Tor Browser.
If you open the start page of Wamp (the default page created by Wamp Server) it means that everything works and that anyone with that address will be able to access your website files.
To modify the files of your local website or add other files, create them inside the folder defined in Wamp.
You can access it by clicking on www directory from the Wamap menu.
You therefore have a functioning website accessible anywhere in the world via your .onion address
Obviously to work your PC must be turned on and WAMP server activated.
Here’s how to create a deep web site solved.
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