How To Monitor Your Organization’s Presence On The Dark Web
Understanding the Importance of Monitoring the Dark Web
The dark web represents a hidden part of the internet that requires specific software to access, making it a haven for illicit activities. As businesses and individuals increasingly rely on online platforms, the necessity to monitor the dark web becomes vital for safeguarding sensitive information.
They may also look at public records, commercial databases, and the internet. They have tools that the average person doesn’t for accessing places that are hard to reach, such as sites that sell stolen personal information on the dark web. Thanks to the anonymity of the dark web, it creates a haven for all illicit illegal activity and cybercrime.
The platform automates the identification of relevant exploit chatter, assisting businesses in prioritizing remediation efforts based on increased adversary intent or capabilities. It collects content from numerous Tor sites, IRC channels, forums, paste sites, and underground marketplaces, continuously adding new high-value sources to expand visibility of the dark web. With its advanced technology, Recorded Future tracks criminal communities as they change their IP and domain infrastructure. Using Falcon Intelligence Recon can help businesses prioritize vulnerabilities based on real-life observed exploits, by offering insights on all publicly known CVEs, related actors, and threat research reports.
CyberBlindspot is focused on intelligence that directly references your corporate assets. CyberBlindspot expands on the indicators of compromise (IOC) concept to expose indicators of warning or indicators of attack, allowing you to identify areas of concern to your network even more proactively. The deep web refers to parts of the internet not indexed by standard search engines, and it’s mostly harmless. The dark web, a smaller portion of the deep web, is deliberately hidden and often used for illicit activities. Dark web monitoring focuses here, as it’s a common place for stolen data and illegal transactions.
SpyCloud offers two services for account takeover (ATO) prevention – one to cover the employees of companies and the other to protect the customers of online services. ⁴ Child members on the family plan will only have access to online account monitoring and social security number monitoring features. Zander’s offering is worth considering as a supplement to an existing insurance policy. However, it offers limited capabilities when compared to other similarly-priced options. Zander’s security teams don’t offer the kind of incident response services that many network security companies on this list do.
Why Monitor the Dark Web?
This proactive cybersecurity practice plays a pivotal role in safeguarding organizations against malicious activities unfolding in the depths of the darknet. If any of your sensitive data has been stolen or leaked from a website or online service, you should find out quickly. Identity thieves target your social security number, passport number, or driver’s license number because these items can allow them to open new credit accounts or loans in your name. Leverage the broadest and deepest coverage of dark web sources to gain visibility into threat actors and their activities.
Get alerted when users or applications on your network attempt to access them or the Dark Web and respond immediately. To determine if your passwords were exposed in a data breach, Sticky Password prepares a unique and anonymous request to the ARC database of breach data at Crossword Cybersecurity. The response comes back to Sticky Password, where it is analyzed within Sticky Password on your device to see if any passwords were found in the breached data; your passwords are never sent outside of your device. Your information is sensitive—it’s incredibly easy for hackers or cyber criminals to gain access to your personal or financial information with your knowledge. This feature lets you identify all email addresses from a given domain that were compromised in a data breach. Because they provide anonymity, dark web sites lend themselves to different forms of cybercrime and scams, including the buying and selling of stolen personal information.
Paulo is the Director of Technology at the rapidly growing media tech company BWZ. Prior to that, he worked as a Software Engineering Manager and then Head Of Technology at Navegg, Latin America’s largest data marketplace, and as Full Stack Engineer at MapLink, which provides geolocation APIs as a service. Paulo draws insight from years of experience serving as an infrastructure architect, team leader, and product developer in rapidly scaling web environments.
Monitoring the dark web helps in identifying potential threats before they escalate. Here are some key reasons:
- Data Breach Prevention: Personal and financial information may be sold or traded on dark web forums.
- Brand Protection: Companies can track discussions about their brand and products to prevent reputational damage.
- Intellectual Property Security: Monitoring helps in spotting unauthorized use or theft of proprietary information.
- Fraud Detection: Being aware of any compromised accounts can help individuals and businesses take timely action.
How to Monitor the Dark Web
Monitoring the dark web is a complex task that often requires specialized tools and expertise. Here are common approaches:
- Use Specialized Monitoring Services: Numerous companies offer dedicated services that scan the dark web for exposed data.
- Employ Proprietary Tools: Businesses can invest in software tools built for dark web monitoring.
- Stay Informed: Regularly review security reports and dark web news to understand current trends and threats.
Best Practices for Dark Web Monitoring
To maximize the effectiveness of monitoring the dark web, consider these best practices:
- Regular Audits: Conduct frequent checks on your exposed data and security policies.
- Incident Response Plan: Have a strategy in place for responding to threats identified through monitoring.
- Collaboration: Work with cybersecurity experts for comprehensive monitoring and threat analysis.
FAQs About Dark Web Monitoring
Q: What kind of data can be found on the dark web?
A: The dark web hosts a variety of data, including personal identification information, credit card details, login credentials, and stolen databases.
Q: Is monitoring the dark web illegal?
A: No, monitoring the dark web itself is legal; however, accessing certain content might violate laws.
Q: How often should I monitor the dark web?
A: Regular monitoring is advisable, ideally on a continuous basis, depending on the sensitivity of the data involved.
Q: Can I monitor the dark web myself?
A: While it’s possible to monitor the dark web independently, it requires technical expertise and could be risky without proper knowledge and tools.
Conclusion
- Therefore, it is highly recommended that you do not access the dark web unless you have the necessary skills and knowledge to guard yourself from these risks.
- In the 2023 Threat Hunting Report, CrowdStrike’s Counter Adversary Operations team exposes the latest adversary tradecraft and provides knowledge and insights to help stop breaches.
- On the next level of the mall are more specialist stores where you must be a member before entering.
- In our guide, we’re looking exclusively at Dark Web monitoring and digital security services designed for individuals.
- The consequences of a business’s data being sold on the dark web can be extremely damaging.
- When selecting a dark monitoring tool provider you’ll need to consider how quickly you are informed when hackers share or sell confidential information or PII.
As cyber threats continue to evolve, the importance of monitoring the dark web cannot be overstated. By leveraging the right tools and practices, individuals and organizations can effectively protect their sensitive data and mitigate risks associated with dark web activities.
