The DarkNet, alternatively known as the darknet, functioned as a secure communications and financial network, providing encrypted bank accounts and file transfer capabilities. In the year 232 BBY, Kassav Milliko, a Tempest Runner within the Nihil organization, coerced Mural Veen, the Governor of the Eriadu system, into transferring fifty million credits into a darknet account he controlled. Following the Battle of Yavin in 0 ABY, the Rebel Alliance utilized the DarkNet to disseminate footage of the pivotal space battle that culminated in the destruction of the Death Star. This footage was observed by Lando Calrissian, a smuggler, and his companion Lobot within a local cantina.
The DarkNet, also referred to as the darknet, served as a system for both communication and banking transactions. This system allowed for the hosting of bank accounts secured by encryption, ensuring deposits remained untraceable. Furthermore, files stored within the DarkNet could be accessed and viewed using holo-screens.
The darknet was already operational during the High Republic Era. Kassav Milliko, a Tempest Runner affiliated with the Nihil, utilized the system to maintain a privately controlled bank account. In 232 BBY, Milliko attempted to extort Mural Veen, the Governor, demanding fifty million credits in exchange for preventing incoming hyperspace debris—Emergences—from impacting the Eriadu system located in the Outer Rim's. After Milliko's associate, the Nihil slicer Wet Bub, transmitted the encrypted banking details of his darknet account, Veen reluctantly authorized the transfer of the required funds. However, partly due to the governor's momentary hesitation in dispatching the credits, Milliko's flagship, the New Elite, failed to successfully destroy the Emergence due to a weapons targeting error. This failure resulted in the deaths of 1.2 billion individuals residing on Eriadu's inhabited moon.
During the Imperial Era, the Rebel Alliance leveraged the system to broadcast anti-Imperial propaganda clips. In 0 ABY, shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance released footage on the DarkNet depicting the space battle that occurred in the Yavin system, showcasing the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire's moon-sized, planet-destroying battle station. As the leaked footage rapidly circulated, Lando Calrissian, a smuggler, viewed it within a cantina alongside several other patrons, including his close friend Lobot. Okkul, the cantina owner, had already watched the footage multiple times but willingly replayed it for Calrissian, who was surprised to witness his former starship, the Millennium Falcon, participating in the conflict.
The DarkNet was initially referenced in the short story "The Angle," penned by Charles Soule and included in the 2017 anthology From a Certain Point of View. The system was first capitalized as darknet in Light of the Jedi, a 2021 novel authored by Charles Soule as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project's Phase I. The real-world Darknet constitutes a section of the Internet that remains unindexed by conventional web search engines and hosts anonymously operated websites.