The Hidden Wiki was a dark web MediaWiki wiki operating as a Tor hidden service that could be anonymously edited after registering on the site. The main page served as a directory of links to other .onion sites.
 | |
Type of site | Internet directory |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional |
| Current status | Ambiguously forked |
History
The first Hidden Wiki was operated through the .onion pseudo-top-level domain which can be accessed only by using Tor or a Tor gateway.[1] Its main page provided a community-maintained link directory to other hidden services, including links claiming to offer money laundering, contract killing, cyber-attacks for hire, contraband chemicals, and bomb making. The rest of the wiki was essentially uncensored as well and also offered links to sites hosting child pornography and abuse images.[2]
The earliest mention of the hidden wiki is from 2007 when it was located at 6sxoyfb3h2nvok2d.onion.[3]
A well known iteration of the Hidden Wiki was founded some time before October 2011, coming to prominence with its associations with illegal content.[4]
At some point prior to August 2013, the site was hosted on Freedom Hosting.[5]
In March 2014 the site and its kpvz7ki2v5agwt35.onion domain was hacked and redirected to Doxbin.[6] Following this event, the content began to be mirrored to more locations. During Operation Onymous in November 2014, after its Bulgarian hosting was compromised, the site served a message from law enforcement.[7]
Successors
There are several .onion websites hosting successors based on mirrors of the Hidden Wiki; as such, there is no longer one single official Hidden Wiki.[7] Many are hosted for accessibility reasons, due to frequent downtime and instability of the main wiki, while others were launched in order to filter links to child pornography.[8]
See also
References
- ^ Gallagher, Sean (23 October 2011). "Anonymous takes down darknet child porn site on Tor network". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ Williams, Christopher (27 October 2011). "The Hidden Wiki: an internet underworld of child abuse". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
- ^ Karsten (June 2007). "Length of new onion addresses". Archived from the original on 1 October 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- ^ Williams, Christopher (24 October 2011). "Anonymous hacktivists target child abuse websites". Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
- ^ Howell O'Neill, Patrick (4 August 2013). "An in-depth guide to Freedom Hosting, the engine of the Dark Net". Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ "The Hidden Wiki Hacked, WikiTor Fills The Gap". DeepDotWeb. March 14, 2014. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ a b DeepDotWeb (15 November 2014). "The Hidden Wiki Seized (Old Domain)". Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ Mead, Derek (12 March 2014). "A Hacker Scrubbed Child Porn Links from the Dark Web's Most Popular Site". VICE Motherboard. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
