With 95% of the internet hosted on the Deep and Dark Webs, companies now have a valuable opportunity to leverage this data for positive purposes.     

The Dark Web has grown tremendously over the last few years, so it's reasonable that companies continue to fear it. With a significant rise in malware attacks and data breaches, it's estimated that there are now 50,000 terrorist groups, hackers, and drug cartels operating on the Dark Web. With its increase in size and competitiveness, the cost of illicit and stolen data has never been so low. For example, stolen credit card numbers now start at $14 a pop and DDoS attacks can be ordered for as low as $15 an hour. Dark vendors often include customer reviews and third-party rating on marketplaces not unlike Amazon and Alibaba.

But there's a silver lining to all this. If properly managed, the Dark Web represents an unprecedented trove of cybersecurity data that organizations can leverage to help them stay protected and respond to emerging threats.

Data Breach Alerts

Imagine getting a complimentary call from a hacker to inform you that you've just been breached. They offer to send you a detailed list of all compromised data and systems so that you can get to work on segregating and mitigating the fallout. Wouldn't that be nice?

Well, with Dark Web scanning, this is already the reality for many firms. At Silent Breach, for example, we monitor hacking forums and marketplaces across the Dark Web which are typically the first place where our clients' data will be posted and/or offered for sale.

While in the past, it took companies over 6 months to detect a breach, tapping into the Dark Web can cut that number down exponentially.

Credential Monitoring

As hybrid and work-from-home models become more permanent, our work and personal lives are not as segregated as they once were. More than ever, employees are resorting to shadow IT, personal computers, and home networks for work-related tasks.

However, even before Covid, Silent Breach found that over 80% of employees reuse the same passwords across multiple accounts. What this means is that leaked credentials from a social media profile, streaming platform, or retails rewards account can have serious repercussions for your company. Often, the first thing that hackers will do once they've obtained stolen credentials is to test out the same password across a number of enterprise applications. More often than not, they'll find a hit.

To mitigate this risk, Silent Breach offers our clients the ability to add extra protections for executive, administrative, or other high-risk personnel. If their name and credentials appear in any data dumps across the Deep or Dark Webs, the user will be notified and provided with mitigation guidance regardless of the compromised vendor.

Threat Intelligence

As a shortage of qualified cybersecurity talent continues to take a toll on the industry, it's important for organizations to prioritize the correct risks and opportunities. Moreover, an over-abundance of data is now being captured from network logs, cloud providers, SIEM tools, and other sources. The challenge, then, is to narrow the scope enough so that technicians can focus on the real threats.

This is where a Threat Intelligence tool like Quantum Armor can come in handy. By partnering with NATO, Quantum Armor is capable of identifying key IoCs, malware strains and threat actors operating across the Dark Web, and then cross-reference those against your organization's logs and data. Once again, drawing on the vast resources available on the Dark Web can help your staff focus their efforts on addressing the latest threats, as soon as they emerge.

Cyber Due Diligence

The latest form of due diligence is gaining steam across most investment vehicles (including PE/VC firms), insurers, and lenders (such as banks or government funds) who are looking for better ways to assess potential clients and deals. And while Cyber Due Diligence can be a lengthy and complex process, one of its key components is a Dark Web assessment.

While traditional penetration tests and vulnerability scans can reveal existing vulnerabilities, a dark web assessment will even identify breaches that occurred in the past. This is done by crawling relevant sites, repositories, and databases in order to identify any leaked information that could be tied to the target company or individual. Perhaps the most famous case of this occurred back 2017 when Verizon was able to purchase Yahoo at a $350 million discount after they discovered two large breaches that had previously been undisclosed.

Love it or hate it, the Dark Web is here to stay for the foreseeable future. It's time for legitimate organizations to begin discovering the surprising benefits that lie beneath the surface, while simultaneously building a safer and more secure digital infrastructure for all.

Have you suffered a data breach? Find out for free with Quantum Armor! Talk with one of our representatives today to learn more about how Silent Breach can leverage the Dark Web to help improve your security.


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