Think of the dark web like one giant illegal black market, but not like the kind where consumers can purchase counterfeit goods. The ‘dark web’ moniker stems from the activity for which the dark web is more generally known for: dark deeds. In nearly every case, the dark web serves an even more complicated malevolent purpose – where information is bought and sold as easily as stocks on a trading website.
While the dark web can also be used for good, trading information – for monetary gain – is a far more popular use of the dark web. Since the average Internet user can’t find the dark web or easily understand what is available to those who can, it’s the perfect spot to hide information or illegal activities in plain sight, like cybercriminals seeking identities, information, and other distinguishable details for sale on the black market.
Understanding the dark web is simple: it’s the same Internet average Internet users navigate to seek and find information through the use of search engines or by typing the web address for a site in a browser URL bar. One key difference is sites that form the dark web apply settings to be undetectable without the aid of specific software, or visitor authorization, to access. In general, the dark web is a place where users find what they’re looking for only when told where to look.
Cybercriminals – hackers – target the dark web to find the information to use as they see fit. One thing is for certain: how hackers use this information will never benefit anyone other than hackers. Hackers are a subset of the population without a moral code, but have their own ill-defined rules, making the black-market dark web even more complicated – and the need to protect information like home addresses, social security numbers, account numbers and passwords.
Know this: most data eventually ends up on the dark web.
Cybercriminals already know this, and they have sophisticated resources to navigate the mountain of information, including personal information which can be used to breach networks and access sensitive data. News reports talk of the value of exposed information in the millions of dollars.
The data that finds its way onto the dark web gets cataloged in a wide variety of ways, and Integris scans these catalogs to detect the information made available, using what is found to defend our clients, and provide detailed reporting of real-time activity for immediate notifications.
Immediate notification allows for immediate response – imagine the value of all your exposed data and the impact of that value on your budget if discovered immediately!
Contact Integris at (888) 330-8808 or [email protected] today and see how dark web scanning can help your information stay protected!
