The Digital Terrain: Definitions and Strategic Relevance
The internet comprises three distinct layers, each relevant to different dimensions of intelligence work.
The surface web refers to content readily accessible and indexed by standard search engines. This segment constitutes a small percentage of the internet—less than 5%—and lacks significant operational intelligence for covert or harmful actions.
The deep web encompasses all content that is not indexed by traditional search engines. It includes university databases, password-protected portals, subscription-based information repositories, and internal communication platforms. Although much of the deep web is benign, we can derive intelligence value from unindexed forums, private extremist blogs, and academic encryption networks. It serves as a bridge between open and clandestine content.
The dark web is a concealed subsection of the deep web, intentionally hidden and accessible only through anonymising technologies, such as the Tor Browser (The Onion Router) and I2P (Invisible Internet Project). It is the primary hub for cybercriminal infrastructure, illicit marketplaces, extremist propaganda, and covert communication. Hidden services host dark web sites using “.onion” domains, unreachable through traditional browsers.
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