A cyberattack may come out of the blue and wreak havoc on your company before you can contain it. The short- and long-term impacts of a cyberattack on businesses are severe. Apart from losing your customers’ trust, you can also lose your competitive advantage, spend vast sums of cash to mitigate an incident, and face a reduction in credit rating. Smaller or cash-strapped companies may even go under. Would you be able to winter the storm better if you had some advance warning? Dark Web intelligence gathering is a proactive tactic to detect threats that may originate from leaked company information. It can provide businesses with advanced knowledge of attacks, help them prepare for looming threats, and help organize responses after attacks.

What Is the Dark Web, and How Does It Operate?

  • The “open” or normal web consists of millions of search-engine-indexed websites.
  • The deep web is accessed like the open web, using a regular web browser like Mozilla, Mullvad, Chrome, or Brave. By design, it is, however, unindexed by search engines. It’s mostly data in storage. Anything behind a login page or paywall forms part of the deep web.
  • The dark web is the hidden, encrypted part of the Internet you can’t access through regular browsers. You need the Tor browser to access it. Websites on the dark web aren’t indexed by popular search engines.

Dark Web forums and websites trade stolen credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and hacked accounts with credit card details, e.g., Amazon and Netflix. You can buy hacked email and user logins for thousands of websites and apps, including gaming and social media accounts.

This is also where hackers get the tools of their trade. They can buy software, exploits, and MaaS (Malware-as-a-Service), such as botnets for DDoS attacks. They can also purchase hardware, including bizarre items like pocket-sized electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generators to knock out electronic devices.

Nothing is sacred on the Dark Web. The only thing keeping this Wild West in check is that scammers routinely scam or betray other scammers and disappear with their clients’ cash.

Navigating the Dark Web Well

Cybersecurity researchers and professionals often have to immerse themselves in the sleaze to find new ways to protect the innocent. They’re searching for telltales in the buzz: new data dumps, new zero-day exploits, new malware or hacking methods.

They’ve also used their knowledge to develop special tools and algorithms to scan dark websites where criminals trade compromised credentials. If they come across mentions of your company or employees, they can instantly alert you.

Dark Web monitoring is an exceedingly welcome tool in the ever-escalating fight against AI-charged cybercrime.

What is Dark Web Monitoring?

Dark Web monitoring tools scan the Dark Web forums and websites where hackers sell leaked information and stolen data. No one is immune—if you’ve been using the internet for a few years, it’s highly likely that your email account and some of your personal details will appear in a hacker database.

Some hackers sell “fullz”: complete profile sets compiled from all the snippets of personal information they can find. These sets can include full names, phone numbers, home and work addresses, social security numbers, social media and online banking details, and more.

Dark Web Databases Used in Social Engineering

Nowadays, cybercriminals seldom have to “hack” into systems via software vulnerabilities. It’s much easier to use the information they buy on the Dark Web to trick people into disclosing online account passwords. They increasingly rely on social engineering to penetrate targets.

For example, phishing emails impersonate contacts from trusted companies (banks or authorities). The aim is to trick people into logging into fake password-logging websites. Criminals have lately taken to AI en masse to help deliver better, more convincing phishing messages via email or chats.

Dark Web Monitoring Benefits for Businesses

Dark Web monitoring is the process of systematically scanning and searching the Dark Web for mentions of specific data, such as email addresses. It’s a proactive technique to detect potential threats that may have originated from leaked information. There are numerous benefits:

Early detection of compromised credentials

If a Dark Web monitoring tool comes across mentions of your company or employees, they can instantly alert you. It improves response time for securing vulnerable accounts.

Advance warning

Get notified of mentions of the company or its employees on dark web forums. If you know your company may be a potential target, you could gain a few days (or hours!) to patch vulnerable systems.

Audit your security policies

Verify the effectiveness of your security policies and practices by measuring them against changes in the threat landscape. Such measures also make complying with data protection and privacy regulations easier.

Adapt and transform

Keep your cybersecurity strategies lean and agile to ensure your company stays proactive.

Improve incident response plans

You can only mitigate what you plan for. Dark web monitoring can help businesses refine their incident response plans based on insights about new threats and attack vectors.

Long-term security management

If credentials have already been used or data has been stolen and sold, dark web monitoring can help establish the extent of the damage.

Don’t Slack on Basic Cyber Hygiene

Dark Web Intelligence monitoring enhances your company’s basic cyber safety practices. It works alongside tried and trusted best practices such as enforcing strong passwords and multi-factor authentication and educating employees on phishing risks. Businesses can use Dark Web intelligence to raise employees’ awareness of the dangers inherent in online work and communication.