Should you invest in a dark web monitoring service? With 80% of successful data breaches related to weak or compromised passwords, this is a smart investment. This is how dark web analytics work:
Most of the Internet is hidden
As of October 2020, the "Indexed Web," also known as the "Clear Web" or "Surface Web," contained more than six billion websites. These are all sites, from social media channels to shopping platforms to personal blogs, that are indexed on public search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo. Despite how vast and extensive it is, the surface network makes up only 1% to 4% of the Internet. The remaining 96-99% of pages are not indexed in public search engines, for one of two reasons:
- Pages are hidden behind a paywall, protected by login credentials, or set to block web trackers. Approximately 95% of "hidden" sites fall into this category. These include pages like membership sections of subscription sites, online banking portals, admin section of a company's WordPress blog or cloud service installation, and account content. Single Gmail.
- The pages are part of the dark web. In addition to being intentionally hidden from public search engines, they can only be accessed through a special anonymous browser called Tor, which makes users' IP addresses unidentifiable and untraceable.
Understanding Dark Web Analysis
Despite its ominous name, not all sites on the Dark Web are created for nefarious purposes. For example, millions of people around the world live under authoritarian government regimes where access to the web from the surface is censored and closely monitored by the authorities. Political dissidents, protesters, and whistleblowers use dark websites to access information, organize, and communicate with the outside world without fear of interception of their activities. Because of this, Facebook, DuckDuckGo, and legitimate media have special Tor sites that direct traffic through an overlay to disguise user location and usage, and investigative reporters use the dark web to facilitate reporting. Confidential communication with whistleblowers and other informants. However, the anonymity of Tor and the dark web also attracts criminal activity, such as online marketplaces for illicit goods and services, including forums for cybercriminals selling stolen data, including credit card and social security numbers, medical records and login information. Dark Web Analysis Services monitors these forums for cybercriminals, keeping an electronic ear to the ground and alerting you if any of your passwords turn up.
Why invest in a dark web monitoring service?
Even if you are diligent about password security measures, such as using strong and unique passwords, a password manager, and multi-factor authentication (2FA), your login information can always be stolen if any of the sites are breached. or apps you use. As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of people around the world to start working, studying, shopping, communicating and seeking entertainment online, we all have more online accounts than ever before. Before, and Cybercriminals Hit Popular Apps and Websites in Force / Victims of data breaches are often the last to know that their information has been compromised. Organizations can take months or even years to detect a breach, and not all organizations are diligent in notifying victims in a timely manner. It took Marriott Starwood nearly four years to discover that its reservations system had been compromised, and the company waited nearly three more months to notify the estimated 500 million affected customers. The sooner you discover that your login credentials have been compromised, the sooner you can take steps to protect yourself. The compromised password must be changed immediately. Depending on the nature of the compromised account, you may want to take additional steps. For example, if your bank account or credit card credentials have been compromised, you can contact your financial service provider to prevent unauthorized purchases and lock your credit report to prevent criminals from opening additional lines of credit. In your name.
Are there limits?
Due to the very nature of the dark web, it cannot be "searched" as easily as searching the shallow web with Google. While there are search engines on the dark web, none of them come close to the reach of Google. The closest comparison is web search from the mid to late 1990s, before there was a Google. Dark Web scans do not scan the entire Dark Web; It would be impossible. Instead, they monitor known cybercriminal forums and marketplaces where data dumps are frequently offered for sale. However, this is not an accusation of dark web scans. A strong dark web monitoring service will catch the vast majority of incidents where your personal information has been put up for sale. The best way to think of Dark Web surveillance services is to think of them as a tool in your arsenal to protect yourself from cybercrime. No cybersecurity defense is perfect, but that's why it's important to combine solutions for layered protection. A dark web monitoring service, combined with good password security practices and a password manager, will provide comprehensive protection against almost any password-related cyberattack at an affordable price.