The internet is a scary place. I definitely know being an amateur hacker. Or at least I was before something happened that caused me to delete all my information and destroy my computers. A little about myself, I’m a 24-year-old with a degree in software engineer and cybersecurity.
I had always had this fascination with the dark web, not that I had any intentions of actually using the dark web. It’s the whole secrecy that really caught my obsession. I spent a lot of time learning how to hack and navigate the dark web.
Anyway, I had been surfing through the dark web using Tor (The Onion Router) browser and a premium VPN (Virtual Private Network) to keep myself anonymous by encrypting my data and routing the connection through the Onion network of volunteer-run servers. However, this browser doesn’t prevent my ISP (Internet Service Provider) from recognizing I’m using Tor itself. The VPN is perfect for browsing the Dark Web. A VPN ensures that Data is never stored, and everything resets when the servers reboot. It uses a proven no-logs policy and an automatic kill switch, it ensures my data remains secure (non-existent!) and prevents any IP address leaks. It also automatically provides a new IP address at random intervals so I can’t be tracked and people won’t be able to find where I live.
Anyway, I was searching through the dark web and discovered a black box which essentially is used to ensure the storage and preservation of such vast volumes of content. An Internet Archive that has a way to parse, index, and physically encode the data while avoiding degradation and ensuring accessibility in unknown future formats,
It’s basically a middle man. Anyway, my interest was peaked. I decided to attempt to hack into it. It was a rather tricky riddle and I was foiled several times, but I managed to break through and found myself in a chat room that was about to stream a video. Upon entering, I was immediately greeted by an unknown user.
They said they hadn’t seen me before and were curious about how I got here. I didn’t quite know what to say so I told them I got an invitation. They asked me from who? I said it was a friend and I didn’t want to give out their name. That’s when the user told me that if they find out I was lying they’d find me and I’d be the next guest to provide entertainment. That thoroughly crept me out.
After that, the user didn’t say much. Soon the stream started and it showed a middle-aged woman tied up to what looked like a surgical table. My heart started to race as I watched her struggle and cry.
I continued to look at my screen as they proceeded to torture her. They first started to cut off her fingers as she screamed out in pain. I felt sick to my stomach. I ended up throwing up in my garbage, however, my eyes were glued to the screen as they continued to cut this woman up. It got to a point where the poor woman was unrecognizable.
Then my heart sank into my stomach as I received another message from that same user. He said that no one invited me. That’s when I found that someone was trying to hack into my computer. To my horror, I found that my VPN was turned off.
I immediately tried to exit the chat room, however, it became too late, they hacked my computer. I unplugged my computer from the wall and then destroyed all of my devices. I was so scared at this point, I didn’t care about their worth. I even packed up all my stuff and left as soon as I could. I have been on the run ever since, always looking over my shoulder. I can’t even sleep at night. To this day, I live in constant fear for my life.
The End.
Remember, you’re never safe in the dark…
If you enjoyed this story please join my email newsletter for an exclusive story you’ll only find on my email newsletter.