How to Host a Site on the Dark Web

How to Host a Site on the Dark Web

Introduction

In this article we will be setting up a server that will host a website on the Dark Web. We will be using Tor Hidden services for this purpose. and a static website for simplicity and security.

Also all the following was tested on a remote server running Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. The server is properly secured and hardened for production use. Also i will be assuming that you have a basic familiarity with the Dark Web and you already have the Tor Browser installed, Tails, or even a Brave browser Private window with Tor.

Installing Tor

You can search for the tor package in the default repositories of Ubuntu, by running :


sudo apt update
sudo apt show tor

Output :


Package: tor
Version: 0.3.2.10-1
Priority: optional
Section: universe/net
Origin: Ubuntu
...

As you can see the tor package is not reliably updated. Luckily for us the Tor project maintains their own repository. so we will add that repository.

To add the Tor project repository, open your source list at /etc/apt/sources.list :


sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following :


deb https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org bionic main
deb-src https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org bionic main

Then add the gpg key used to sign the packages by running the following commands at your command prompt:


curl https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89.asc | gpg --import
gpg --export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | apt-key add -

They also provide a Debian package to help you keep our signing key current. It is recommended you use it. Install it alongside with Tor it by running the following commands:


sudo apt update
sudo apt install tor deb.torproject.org-keyring

The Tor Hidden Service

Now we need to edit the Tor configuration file to enable the hidden service. But first we will make a backup of this configuration file.


sudo cp /etc/tor/torrc /etc/tor/torrc.bak

Next we need to edit the configuration file.


sudo nano /etc/tor/torrc

By default all Tor client services, relays, and hidden services are commented out and disabled. Let’s activate the hidden service. Find the section for hidden services. It will look something like this.


############### This section is just for location-hidden services ####### 
## Once you have configured a hidden service, you can look at the
## contents of the file ".../hidden_service/hostname" for the address
## to tell people.
## 
## HiddenServicePort x y:z says to redirect requests on port x to the
## address y:z.#HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/
#HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:80#HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/other_hidden_service/
#HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:80
#HiddenServicePort 22 127.0.0.1:22

Uncomment the following lines by removing the # at the beginning :


#HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/
#HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:80

The Hidden services section should look something like :


############### This section is just for location-hidden services #########
## Once you have configured a hidden service, you can look at the
## contents of the file ".../hidden_service/hostname" for the address
## to tell people.
##
## HiddenServicePort x y:z says to redirect requests on port x to the
## address y:z.
HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/
HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:80
#HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/other_hidden_service/
#HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:80
#HiddenServicePort 22 127.0.0.1:2

Now restart the Tor service :


sudo systemctl restart tor

Few files should be generated in /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/ directory, a hostname file, and a private_key

Open it up to get your .onion address. :


sudo nano /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/hostname

My address was uhs5lbrjzbbtcsmx.onion

The private_key file conatins your private key, you should make a backup of it and keep it secure.

It should look similar to this.

Installing Nginx

Nginx provides a server backend that can be more suitably hardened and secured against the potential threats against a hidden service, although Apache or other HTTP server software can certainly work. Just make sure that it's bound to 127.0.0.1 to prevent discoveries through services such as Shodan.

To install nginx simply run :


sudo apt install nginx

Your server must be running a firewall. By default Ubuntu has a firewall named UFW and we will be using it. The following command will allow HTTP traffic.


sudo ufw allow 'Nginx HTTP'

Visit your server’s IP address to verify that the web server is operational.
If things are working correctly, remove this rule. Then reload the firewall.


sudo ufw deny 'Nginx HTTP'
sudo ufw reload

Nginx configuration

Edit the main Nginx configuration file to disable undesirable information sharing :


sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Inside the http block add the following:


server_name_in_redirect off;
server_tokens off;
port_in_redirect off;

Then restart the Nginx server.


sudo systemctl restart nginx

Web Server Root Directory

Make a directory to hold our files for the web server.


sudo mkdir /var/www/dark_web

Make and edit an index.html file for your site for testing purposes.


sudo nano /var/www/dark_web/index.html

Inside just put anything. We don’t need actual html, just something for right now.


Welcome to my dark web page

Set the permissions so that Nginx can access the files.


sudo chmod 755 /var/www/dark_web

Remove Nginx Default

Remove the default site.


sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Add Available Site

Make a new site in the sites-available directory.


sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/dark_web

Inside add the following replacing the root and server_name values for your instance.


server {
    listen 127.0.0.1:80;
    root /var/www/dark_web/;
    index index.html;
    server_name uhs5lbrjzbbtcsmx.onion;
}

Add this site the the site_enabled.


sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/dark_web /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Then restart the Nginx server.


sudo systemctl restart nginx

Conclusion

Now you have a site on the Dark Web. Any files in the /var/www/dark_web will be available on the Tor network. the static site generator should output to this folder.

Written By: Walid Lamraouion 2021-07-05