Dark web monitoring is a lot like preventative healthcare. Recognizing warning signs and responding accordingly reduces the risks of minor problems becoming significant issues. But ignore the warning signs and you could bring unnecessary trouble on yourself. That is certainly the case with dark web monitoring data showing an organization is exposed.
Companies like DarkOwl offer dark web monitoring tools and strategies that can be used by companies of virtually any size. Dark web monitoring is all about being proactive. It is about going out and looking for potential exposure that might lead to future cyberattacks.
Here is the most important thing to know: an organization whose data has been found on the dark web faces a significantly higher risk of cyberattacks. As TechRadar put it in a recent post, “get ready to face a cyberattack” if your organization’s data has been found on the dark web.
Backed by Study Data
TechRadar did not pull its warning out of thin air. Rather, they issued it after reviewing a study looking at cyber insurance claims and incident reports from 2020-2023. And in fact, the researchers analyzed reports for more than 9,000 organizations. What they discovered is alarming.
For starters, the data points to a 4-year breach rate of 3.7%. Combining this rate with the amount of data found on the dark web led analysts to conclude but organizations whose data is discovered in the darkest corners of the internet are at a “much higher risk of experiencing a cyber incident.”
That finding is alarming enough. But it gets worse. Certain types of information suggested varying levels of risk. For example, organizations whose compromised user accounts were found online are more than 2.5 times more likely to experience incidents. On the other hand, an organization is only 2.11 times more likely to be attacked if the information found online merely establishes a link between their network and the dark web.
Finally, the researchers divided the different types of dark web information into multiple categories. They then reported that an organization whose information was found across at least five of the highest risk categories was 77% more likely to experience a cyberattack.
The Information Is There for a Reason
This all points to an easy-to-understand reality: an organization’s information is found on the dark web for a reason. Dark web operators do not compile and publish information just to waste a few hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon. They don’t make the effort to steal such information for entertainment purposes. Rather, the information equals a paycheck.
Anyone who makes use of an organization’s data does so for nefarious purposes. Dark web data is leveraged to launch financially lucrative attacks. It is used to steal identities, hack bank accounts, commit credit card fraud, and on and on. Some attacks are even carried out by rogue nations looking to steal sensitive data and jeopardize our national security.
What It Means to Organizations
So, what does all this mean to individual organizations? It means several things. First and foremost, don’t ignore reality. If an organization’s data is found on the dark web, that organization must immediately begin preparations to fend off a cyberattack. It could even be multiple attacks. Now that the information is out there, decision makers can simply assume an attack or coming.
Next, organizations should invest in regular dark web monitoring. Whether they do it in-house or hire an external contractor, continual monitoring is no longer a luxury once data is discovered. Data discovery makes monitoring and imperative.
Yet another implication is that an organization’s security practices might not be up to par. The fact that data appears online means hackers manage to get hold of it somehow. Whether they did so through social engineering, password cracking, or stealing physical property matters not. What matters is they managed to get in. Now the organization needs to respond accordingly.
The Basic Premise of Dark Web Monitoring
The basic premise of dark web monitoring is proactive scanning. An organization deploys automated tools that continuously scan the dark web for email addresses, passwords, credit card numbers, company domains, or any other information deemed valuable to hackers.
The tools monitor everything from dark web marketplace sites to internet forums where cybercriminals talk shop. Every dark web property that could yield intelligence is scanned and analyzed. Finding compromised data triggers two important things:
- Alerts – Automated scanning tools should trigger alerts whenever sensitive data is found. The alerts should include details about the information, where it was located, and how long it has been available online (if possible).
- Actionable Intelligence – Alerts should be accompanied by actionable intelligence that includes reasonable steps to cure any suspected breaches. Additional actionable designed to ward off future cyber-attacks might also be part of the report.
By combining continuous monitoring with real time alerts and actionable intelligence, companies can stay ahead of cybercriminals looking everywhere they can for opportunities to exploit unsuspecting organizations.
Early Detection Is the Key
I like to think of dark web monitoring as a form of early detection. It reminds me a lot of treating cancer. Early detection is the key to getting ahead of the disease and preventing devastating outcomes. The same is true in cybersecurity.
Early detection offers the opportunity to take action before a full-blown incident occurs. The sooner an organization’s security team can respond, the greater the chances that a major crisis will be averted.
The other extreme is not monitoring the dark web at all. Instead, security teams sit back and do nothing until an actual attack occurs. The problem with such an approach is that it could be too late to mount any meaningful response if an organization waits too long.
Dark web monitoring is designed to reveal sensitive information published on the dark web. It does not do any good to identify said information and then ignore it. The minute an alert is received, an organization’s security team needs to spring into action.