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Tor 101: Introduction to Dark Web Investigation

Welcome to the Dark Web

CSAM, drug markets, ransomware: the list of harmful content hidden behind the Tor network grows daily. Tor 101 teaches investigators the hands-on skills to reveal it.

This course was created by Mike “Hax” Fischer, the founder and director of hackers4justice.com. With over a decade of research experience into the Tor network and its applications, he provides technical consultancy to law enforcement units and NGOs, with a focus on human trafficking and child exploitation investigations.

Tor Fundamentals to Field-Ready Investigation Skills

Developed in collaboration with members of the law enforcement community and the Tor Team at hackers4justice.com. The Tor 101: Introduction to Dark Web Investigation course is an essential purchase for CTI analysts, law enforcement, NGOs, OSINT professionals, and others whose role includes dark web investigations. It is a hands-on, practical introduction, built around a training lab so you're not just reading theory. You build a solid theoretical understanding, and real-world skills.

This self-paced course covers 12 modules designed to take you from zero to hero. Tor 101 combines ethical hacking, OSINT, and investigative tradecraft, building your skills step-by-step from the ground up. The material in this course is used by law enforcement professionals and investigators today for real-world, tangible results. Earn a certificate you can present to your employer, or include in your professional development record upon completion.

Prerequisites

This course is not for the general public, enrollment is only available to those professions listed above. To cater for every skill set, please check the tiers below for what course package and pricing suits your use-case prior to purchase. All prices are in USD.

Choose your tier

Tier 1: Basic

$195

This provides access to the course and access to the training lab only, with no Live 1-2-1 technical support. It is ideal for those who are more technical, have configured complex virtual environments, worked in networking or have some cyber-security experience.

Tier 2: Standard

$285

Everything in Basic, plus 1 hour of live 1-2-1 guidance from the course author, ideal if you want a safety net while you configure your investigation environment and run your first techniques.

Tier 3: Premium

$465

This provides access to the course, access to the training lab and 3 hours of Live 1-2-1 technical support. It is ideal for those who may use computers daily for work, but will need assistance setting up their investigation environment, and prefer to be guided through how to use the various tools and techniques covered in the course.

Note: Live 1-2-1 technical support is provided online, via video call platforms like Zoom.

Request to Enroll

Enter your email below and join the list of professionals ready to tackle cyber-crime on the dark web. A work email address is required only as a check to confirm applicants are legitimate; it doesn't need to match the email on your Tor101 account. Submit your details and we'll follow up by email to confirm eligibility and arrange payment. If you prefer, you can contact the author directly: mike@tor101.com.

By enrolling in this course you agree to our terms and conditions, privacy policy and legal notice. For additional security, all accounts are secured with 2FA by default. Disclaimer: This course is provided for educational purposes only.

 •   •    © 2026 TOR101.com. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: This course including the contents and information (collectively “Course”) is intended and provided solely for educational purposes only, "as is" and without warranties of any kind, express or implied. This website, together with this Course and content thereon, wherever from or however derived is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing in this Course constitutes legal advice, and users are solely responsible for ensuring their use of any technique, tool, or information covered complies with all applicable local, national, and international laws. The operator of this website, the author of the Course, its affiliates, business partners and their respective employees, officers, agents and contractors or any person(s) connected to this Course makes no guarantee as to the outcomes or results of this Course, and are not liable for any misuse of any aspect of this Course, or for any loss, liabilities damage, or legal consequences, whether direct or indirect or consequential, arising from the use or reliance of this Course.

TOR101.com’s Privacy Policy
Effective Date: 19/10/2026

1. Introduction
TOR101.com (“TOR101”, “we”, “us”, “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information of visitors, users, [account holders], enrollees (“you”, “your”) of TOR101.com’s website (“Website”) and the contents and/or course materials arising from the website (“Course”). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, how it may be shared, and the measures we take to protect it.
By using the Website or enrolling in the Course, you consent to the collection and use of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect
Enrollment information: your work/organizational email address and course tier you submit through the enrollment form on the Website. As a light-touch eligibility check, the form does not accept common personal webmail addresses (for example Gmail, Outlook, ProtonMail or Yahoo). This is further enforced with database access controls.
Account information: your name, email address and password you provide when setting up your account, and the two-factor authentication (TOTP) enrollment used to secure it. Your authenticator app's shared secret is generated solely to secure your account login and is not used for any other purpose.
Learning data: your Course progress, quizzes you have completed, quiz results, completed modules and your overall completion status, in order to track your progress and issue a certificate of completion.
Feedback and support information: anything you submit through the Course Feedback form, or through the in-course SOS button (used to request technical help, live 1-2-1 support, or consultancy), or any other contact method on the Website.
Technical information: standard information collected automatically by our hosting provider (Google Firebase) to operate the Website securely, such as request logs. We do not currently use advertising or analytics cookies, however, we do not guarantee if any third party provider (such as the hosting provider or the payment processor provider) will use analytics cookies.
Payment information: billing details (processed securely through third party payment processors).

3. How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
• Process your enrollment and set up your account;
• Process payments;
• Authenticate you and secure your account (including via two-factor authentication) and maintain your accounts;
• Track your progress through the Course and issue a certificate of completion;
• Respond to inquiries, support requests and feedback;
• Send you service-related communications (e.g. account verification emails, password resets);
• Improve the Website or Course functionality and user experience;
• Preventing fraud and ensuring the security and integrity of the Website and the practice lab, including identifying and preventing shared or misused accounts;
• Comply with applicable legal obligations.
We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not sell your personal information to third parties.

4. Legal Basis for Processing
Where applicable data protection law requires a lawful basis for processing, we process your personal data based on:
• Our performance of a contract with you: to provide the Course you've enrolled in and paid for;
• Your consent: to send you service related communications and to provide customer service support to you (with your sole option to withdraw at any time);
• Our legitimate interests: to secure your accounts, prevent misuse of the practice lab, fraud prevention and improve the Website and/or the Course; and
• Legal Compliance: to comply with applicable legal obligations.

5. Communications
We may email you regarding: enrollment confirmation, account verification, password/account recovery, course-related updates, and responses to any inquiry or feedback you submit. We do not send marketing communications unless you separately opt in, and you may opt out of any non-essential communications at any time.

6. Sharing of Information
We do not sell your personal information. We may share it with:
• Our service providers such as Google Firebase / Google Cloud, our hosting, authentication and database provider, which processes and stores your account, progress and enrollment data on our behalf, our payment gateway partner(s) which processes your personal data and credit card details (please see below for further information);
• Government, regulatory or law-enforcement authorities where required by applicable law, or where we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to investigate or prevent misuse of the Course or practice lab;
• A professional adviser (e.g. accountant or lawyer), where necessary.
When we share your information to our payment gateway partner(s), your payment may be processed through [Stripe] or another authorized payment provider.
The applicable payment provider may collect and process payment information in accordance with its own terms, privacy policy and security requirements and practices.
We strongly advise for you to review the relevant payment provider's privacy policy when using its services or prior to proceeding with any submission of payment details or personal information.
We do not intend to store complete card details on our own systems. TOR101.com as a merchant is not liable whatsoever in respect of any loss or damage of your personal information or payment details arising directly or indirectly out of decline of authorization for any payment transaction.

7. Cookies and Similar Technologies
The Website currently does not use advertising or analytics cookies. It uses only the technical session data needed to keep you signed in via Firebase Authentication. We encourage you to revisit this section or this Privacy Policy if cookie-based analytics or marketing tools are added later.

8. Data Security
We use industry-standard security practices and implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including mandatory two-factor authentication for all accounts, encrypted data storage and transmission (via Google Firebase), and access-control rules restricting who can view your data. However, no method of electronic transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should maintain password confidentiality and report any suspected security breaches to us immediately.

9. Data Breach Notification
In the event of a data breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you and any relevant regulator without undue delay, and in any event within the time frame required by applicable law, together with information on the nature of the breach, steps we take and any steps we recommend you take.

10. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for:
Active Accounts: the duration of account in addition to the applicable legal retention period.
Closed Accounts: up to 7 years from the date of closure of the account for legal and financial compliance.
Marketing Data: until consent is withdrawn.
You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time, subject to any information we are legally required to retain.

11. Your Rights
You have the rights to request from us to request access to, correction/rectification of, deletion of your personal data (subject to our legal obligations), restrict certain processing, receive your personal data in a structured format, object to processing based on legitimate interests and withdraw your consent.
Requests can be submitted using the contact details provided in the Website. We may require reasonable verification before processing a request.

12. Age Requirement and Children's Information
The Course is a restricted-access, professional training product intended for CTI analysts, law enforcement, NGOs and OSINT professionals, and requires enrollees to be at least 18 years old. It is not directed at or intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

13. Testimonials and Feedback
Where you submit feedback through the Course Feedback form, we may use anonymised or de-identified excerpts for marketing purposes. We will not publish your name, organisation or other identifying information alongside feedback without first asking your separate, explicit permission. See also the Testimonials and Feedback clause in the Terms & Conditions.

14. Third-Party Websites
The Course Material references Hackers4Justice (hackers4justice.com), an organisation founded by the Course operator. While affiliated with TOR101, Hackers4Justice operates its own separate website, which is not governed by this Privacy Policy. The website may also link to other third-party resources; we are not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-party website you visit.

15. International Data Transfer
Your information may be processed or stored on servers located outside your own country, as part of our hosting provider's (Google Firebase/Google Cloud) global infrastructure. Where required, such transfers are carried out using appropriate safeguards in accordance with the applicable data protection laws.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on the Website with its effective date. You agree that all agreements, notice, disclosures and other communication that we provide to you electronically satisfy the legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

17. Contact Us
For privacy-related questions or requests, please contact: mike@tor101.com

Terms & Conditions — TOR101.com
Effective Date: 19/10/2026   Last Updated: 19/10/2026

1. Introduction
TOR101.com (“TOR101”, “the Course”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is an online training course teaching dark web investigation techniques (“Course”), operated by Mike (“the Course operator”). These Terms & Conditions (“T&C”) govern your access to and use of this TOR101 website (“Website”), your enrollment in and use of the Course, and your use of the practice lab environment made available as part of the Course.
By enrolling in the Course, creating an account, or accessing any part of the website beyond the public landing page, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these T&C.
If you do not agree with these T&C, please do not enroll in or access the Course and exit the Website.

2. Eligibility
TOR101 is a restricted-access Course and is not available to the general public. It is intended for CTI analysts, law enforcement, NGOs, OSINT professionals, and others whose role includes dark web investigations. By enrolling, you confirm that:
• You belong to one of the eligible professions described on the Website;
• The information you provide at enrollment and account setup is accurate and complete;
• You will use the Course, the Website and the practice lab only for lawful purposes, only for your own professional development and only as directed.
As a light-touch eligibility check, enrollment must be made using a genuine work or organizational email address; common personal webmail providers (for example Gmail, Outlook, ProtonMail or Yahoo) are not accepted at enrollment.
We reserve the right to refuse, suspend or cancel enrollment where eligibility cannot be confirmed, or where we reasonably suspect the information provided is false.

3. Age Requirement
The Course covers sensitive subject matter, including dark web navigation and de-anonymization techniques. You must be at least 18 years old to enroll. By enrolling, you confirm you meet this requirement.

4. Course Tiers and Pricing
The Course is offered in multiple tiers (currently Tier 1: Basic, Tier 2: Standard, Tier 3: Premium), each with its own price, displayed in USD on the Website. Tier pricing and contents may change at any time; fee structure changes will not affect any current users who have their enrollment already confirmed.

5. Enrollment and Payment
Enrollment is initiated through the form on the Website, after which arrangements for payment are confirmed directly with you. Your access to the Course is granted once payment has been received and your account has been set up. Subject to successful verification at our end, once your account has been activated, you will have lifetime access to your account unless you decide to cancel your account or request for us to terminate your account.
No Refunds: All payments are final. Once payment has been made, no refunds will be issued for any reason, including but not limited to a change of mind, partial use of the Course, failure to complete the Course, or ineligibility discovered after payment where that ineligibility resulted from inaccurate or false information you provided at enrollment. Please ensure you meet the eligibility criteria and are satisfied this Course is right for you before enrolling and paying. If you are unsure if you met the eligibility criteria, please contact us.

6. Account, Login Credentials and Security
Access to the Course requires creating an individual account secured with two-factor authentication (an authenticator app). Your account and login credentials are personal to you and may not be shared, transferred, sold or made available to any other person, including colleagues at the same organization. Each paid enrollment entitles one individual to one account.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and your authenticator app, and for all activity that takes place under your account. You must notify us immediately of any suspected unauthorized access to your account.
Our system enforces a single active login session per account; signing in elsewhere automatically signs out any other active session. Repeatedly triggering this, or otherwise attempting to bypass the single-session limit, will be treated as evidence of account sharing for the purposes of this clause.
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate, without refund, any account found to be shared, to have multiple concurrent users, or otherwise used in breach of this clause.

7. Acceptable Use of the Course and Practice Lab
The Course includes a practice/lab environment (including a simulated onion-service target) intended solely for the techniques, tools and exercises covered within the Course. You agree that you will:
• Use the practice lab and any associated tools, accounts or infrastructure only for the purposes explicitly covered in the Course, and not for any other investigation, testing, research or purpose;
• Not attempt to access, test, scan, exploit or interact with the lab environment, or any infrastructure supporting it, using any technique, tool or method beyond what is explicitly taught in the Course;
• Not use anything learned on this Course, or the lab environment itself, to target, test or investigate any real system, service or individual without separate, explicit, lawful authorization to do so;
• Not attempt to disrupt, overload or otherwise interfere with the availability of the lab environment or the Website for other users.
Breach of this clause may result in immediate suspension or termination of your account without refund, and may be reported to the relevant authorities where unlawful activity is suspected.

8. Assumption of Risk — Your Own Equipment and Network
Parts of the Course involve accessing the Tor network, downloading and running tools, and visiting onion services using your own computer and network connection. You acknowledge that this carries inherent operational and security risks to your own equipment and data, and that you are solely responsible for following the operational-security guidance provided in the Course (including the “Setting Up Your Investigation Machine” module) before doing so. We are not responsible for any damage, compromise, or data loss to your own equipment or network arising from your use of the techniques taught in the Course.

9. Export Control and Sanctions Compliance
The Course covers investigation and de-anonymization techniques that may be treated as controlled or dual-use technology under the export control, sanctions or similar laws of certain countries. You confirm that you are not located in, and are not a national or resident of, any country subject to comprehensive trade sanctions, and that you are not on any restricted or denied-party list maintained by a relevant government. You are solely responsible for ensuring your enrollment in and use of the Course complies with the export control and sanctions laws applicable to you. Breach of this clause may result in immediate suspension or termination of your account without refund, and may be reported to the relevant authorities where unlawful activity is suspected.

10. Intellectual Property
The Website, and all contents made available through the Course and practice lab(s) — including but not limited to videos, written materials, slides, diagrams, the practice lab environment, exercises, quizzes and any downloadable material (collectively, “Course Material”) — is owned by or licensed to TOR101 and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws.
Your enrollment grants you a personal, limited, non-transferable, non-exclusive license to access and use the Course Material for your own individual learning, for as long as your account remains active. You may not:
• Copy, record, download, screenshot, broadcast, livestream, re-upload, publish, republish, distribute, sell, rent, sub-license or otherwise share any Course Material, in whole or in part, with any person who has not separately enrolled and paid for access;
• Reproduce, or distribute for commercial purposes;
• Use the Course Material to create a competing course, training product or derivative work;
• Remove or obscure any copyright, trademark or attribution notice on the Course Material.
We reserve the right to pursue all available legal remedies against any unauthorised broadcast, copying, recording or redistribution of Course Material.

11. Course Completion and Certificate
A certificate of completion will be issued once you have successfully completed all required Course content, as determined by the Website's completion tracking. Certificates are provided for professional development purposes only and do not constitute a professional qualification, license or endorsement by any third party. We make no guarantee regarding employment, promotion or case outcomes resulting from completing the Course.

12. Educational Purpose and Disclaimer
This Course, including its contents and information, is intended and provided solely for educational purposes, “as is” and without warranties of any kind, express or implied. Nothing in the Course constitutes legal advice, and you are solely responsible for ensuring your use of any technique, tool or information covered complies with all applicable local, national and international laws. TOR101, its operator, affiliates, business partners and their respective employees, officers, agents and contractors make no guarantee as to the outcomes or results of the Course, and are not liable for any misuse of any aspect of the Course, or for any loss, liability, damage or legal consequence arising from its use.
We also do not warrant that all content will be accurate or current and that you will achieve specific learning outcomes.

13. Indemnification
You agree to fully indemnify and hold harmless TOR101, its operator, affiliates, and their respective officers, employees and agents, from any claim, loss, liability or expense (including legal fees on full indemnity basis) arising from your breach of the T&C, your misuse of the Course or practice lab, or your violation of any laws or third-party rights.

14. Limitation of Liability
TOR101 shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising from your access to or use of (or inability to access or use) the Website, the Course or the practice lab, including but not limited to loss of data, loss of profits, or damages arising from your own misuse of techniques taught in the Course.
Our total aggregate liability to you in connection with the Course shall not exceed the amount you paid for your enrollment.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

15. Termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Course, without refund, if we reasonably believe you have breached any terms in the T&C. For avoidance of doubt, once you have paid for the Course and you decide to cancel your account or stop using the Course at any time, you will not be entitled to a refund.

16. Website and Course Availability
We make reasonable efforts to keep the Website and Course available but we do not warrant or guarantee that the Website and/or Course will be uninterrupted or error-free, which may be affected by maintenance, technical failures, or circumstances beyond our control. We also do not warrant that technical issues will not occur.

17. Force Majeure
We will not be liable for any failure or delay in providing the Course caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to internet or hosting-provider outages, power failures, acts of government, or acts of God or natural disaster.

18. Testimonials and Feedback
Where you submit feedback through the Course Feedback form, we may use anonymised or de-identified excerpts (i.e. without your name or identifying details) for marketing purposes such as the website or promotional material. We will not publish your name, organisation or any identifying information alongside feedback without first asking your separate, explicit permission. Please refer to our Privacy Policy on how we process your personal data.

19. Changes to These Terms
We may update these T&C from time to time. The current version will always be available on the Website. Continued use of the Course after a change takes effect will be deemed to you agreeing and accepting the revised Terms.

20. Severability and Entire Agreement
If any part of these T&C is found invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full effect. These T&C (together with the Privacy Policy) constitute the entire agreement between you and TOR101 regarding the Course, superseding any prior communications on the subject.

21. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These T&C shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of Singapore. Any disputes arising from these T&C or Website use shall be resolved through good faith negotiation. If negotiation fails, disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Singapore.

22. Contact Us
For questions regarding these T&C, please contact: mike@tor101.com

Is it legal for me to take this course?
Tor 101 is restricted to CTI analysts, law enforcement, NGOs and OSINT professionals for professional development. The course is educational; you're responsible for ensuring your own use of any technique complies with the laws that apply to you and your role. Please see our legal documentation.

What equipment or software do I need?
A computer capable of running a virtual machine. The course walks you through the VM and tooling setup step by step, and no prior OSINT or VM experience is assumed.

Is my enrollment kept confidential?
Yes. Your enrollment and course activity are only visible to you and the course author, in line with our Privacy Policy.

How is this different from general OSINT training?
This course is built specifically around Tor and onion-service investigation: the network architecture, the tools, and real techniques used to deanonymize onion-service operators, rather than general-purpose OSINT methodology.

To support those fighting animal/child exploitation or human trafficking, the owners of Tor101 will give away 1 free {Tier 1} course for every 10 courses sold. Organisations can contact mike@tor101.com for eligability.