The Hidden Wiki was a
dark web MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a free and open-source wiki software. It is used on Wikipedia and almost all other Wikimedia websites, including Wiktionary, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata; these sites define a large part of the requirement set for MediaWi ...
wiki
A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pub ...
operating as
Tor hidden services that could be anonymously edited after registering on the site. The main page served as a
directory of links to other
.onion
.onion is a special-use top level domain name designating an anonymous onion service, which was formerly known as a "hidden service", reachable via the Tor network. Such addresses are not actual DNS names, and the .onion TLD is not in the I ...
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.
Its main page provided a community-maintained link directory to other hidden services, including links claiming to offer
money laundering,
contract killing,
cyber-attack
A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricted ...
s 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.
The earliest mention of the hidden wiki is from 2007 when it was located at 6sxoyfb3h2nvok2d.onion.
A well known iteration of the Hidden Wiki was founded some time before October 2011, coming to prominence with its associations with illegal content.
At some point prior to August 2013, the site was hosted on
Freedom Hosting.
In March 2014 the site and its kpvz7ki2v5agwt35.onion domain was hacked and redirected to
Doxbin.
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.
Successors
There are several .onion websites hosting successors based on
mirrors
A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the ima ...
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
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a ...
.
See also
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hidden Wiki
Wikis
Underground culture
Tor onion services
Dark web
Internet properties with year of establishment missing