The Hidden Wiki
{{Short description|Defunct Tor wiki}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Infobox website
|name = The Hidden Wiki
|logo = The Hidden Wiki logo.png
|logo_size = 130
|screenshot =
|collapsible =
|caption =
|url =
|commercial = No
|type = Internet directory
|registration = Optional
|language = English
|num_users =
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|programming language =
|owner =
|author =
|launch_date =
|alexa =
|revenue =
|current_status = Ambiguously forked
|footnotes =
}}
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.
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.{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/business/news/2011/10/anonymous-takes-down-darknet-child-porn-site-on-tor-network.ars|title=Anonymous takes down darknet child porn site on Tor network|last=Gallagher|first=Sean|date=23 October 2011|publisher=Ars Technica|access-date=10 February 2012|archive-date=6 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906034537/http://arstechnica.com/business/2011/10/anonymous-takes-down-darknet-child-porn-site-on-tor-network/|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/8851242/The-Hidden-Wiki-an-internet-underworld-of-child-abuse.html|title=The Hidden Wiki: an internet underworld of child abuse|last=Williams|first=Christopher|date=27 October 2011|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=25 January 2012|archive-date=4 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604163902/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/8851242/The-Hidden-Wiki-an-internet-underworld-of-child-abuse.html|url-status=live}}
The earliest mention of the hidden wiki is from 2007 when it was located at 6sxoyfb3h2nvok2d.onion.{{cite web|last1=Karsten|title=Length of new onion addresses|date=June 2007 |url=https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2007-June/001442.html|access-date=10 March 2018|archive-date=1 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001222922/https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2007-June/001442.html|url-status=live}}
A well known iteration of the Hidden Wiki was founded some time before October 2011, coming to prominence with its associations with illegal content.{{cite news|last1=Williams|first1=Christopher|title=Anonymous hacktivists target child abuse websites|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8846577/Anonymous-hacktivists-target-child-abuse-websites.html|access-date=8 August 2015|date=24 October 2011|archive-date=18 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018094131/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8846577/Anonymous-hacktivists-target-child-abuse-websites.html|url-status=live}}
At some point prior to August 2013, the site was hosted on Freedom Hosting.{{cite news|last1=Howell O'Neill|first1=Patrick|title=An in-depth guide to Freedom Hosting, the engine of the Dark Net|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/eric-marques-tor-freedom-hosting-child-porn-arrest/|access-date=3 August 2015|date=4 August 2013|archive-date=30 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430183059/http://www.dailydot.com/news/eric-marques-tor-freedom-hosting-child-porn-arrest/|url-status=live}}
In March 2014 the site and its kpvz7ki2v5agwt35.onion domain was hacked and redirected to Doxbin.{{cite news|work=DeepDotWeb|title=The Hidden Wiki Hacked, WikiTor Fills The Gap|url=http://www.deepdotweb.com/2014/03/14/hidden-wiki-hacked-wikitor-fills-gap/|access-date=29 March 2015|date=March 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319150336/http://www.deepdotweb.com/2014/03/14/hidden-wiki-hacked-wikitor-fills-gap/|archive-date=19 March 2015|url-status=dead}} 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.{{cite news|last1=DeepDotWeb|author-link=DeepDotWeb|title=The Hidden Wiki Seized (Old Domain)|url=https://www.deepdotweb.com/2014/11/15/the-hidden-wiki-seized/|access-date=20 June 2015|date=15 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628213012/https://www.deepdotweb.com/2014/11/15/the-hidden-wiki-seized/|archive-date=28 June 2015|url-status=dead}}
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. 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.{{cite web|url=http://motherboard.vice.com/read/a-hacker-scrubbed-child-porn-links-from-the-dark-webs-most-popular-site|title=A Hacker Scrubbed Child Porn Links from the Dark Web's Most Popular Site|last=Mead|first=Derek|date=12 March 2014|publisher=VICE Motherboard|access-date=24 March 2015|archive-date=6 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006074627/http://motherboard.vice.com/read/a-hacker-scrubbed-child-porn-links-from-the-dark-webs-most-popular-site|url-status=live}}
See also
- {{Portal-inline|Internet}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Wikibooks-inline|Guide to Tor hidden services and elements of the Tor network}}
{{Tor hidden services}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hidden Wiki}}
Category:Internet properties with year of establishment missing