Clare McKenna investigates the dark side of the net

We’ve made Clare McKenna do some strange things for the show - we’ve even had her change her diet to a Vegan one! -  but one of the strangest places we’ve sent her is to investigate the dark web and the deep web. 

Over the past few weeks, Clare has been underground in the deep dark web to see how far she could get and to see if she could make a purchase. Obviously she couldn’t make an illegal purchase of drugs, fake money, guns or a hitman, which the dark web is notorious for, but for our listeners she did go far.

She first looked at how to get on to the Dark Web.

Step one is making sure you are more protected online. She was frightened at the amount of information we give out about ourselves online and why much of it is on sale on the dark web without us knowing! 

She spoke to Brain Honan, Internet Security Specialist about it, as well as Maura Conway of the Law and Government Dept DCU.  

She then looked at what the Dark Web is used for – the positive and negative uses.

Clare then got herself a Bitcoin to find out how it works and who is using it, fancying herself as April O'Neill, you know, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

She touched on some of the dark web content, and finally found out how easy is it to buy something from it. 

Make yourself a cuppa and have a listen to her investigation and her advice on how to find out if you have been compromised online: