The Dark Web is a Threat to Your Business, Are You Prepared?
In this hidden unregulated corner of the Internet, hackers are trading the latest malware and stolen business information with impunity.
The dark web is a major facilitator of global crime. While illegal content and narcotics get most of the attention from the press, what’s less discussed in the mainstream media is how the dark web is driving the rapid increase of cybercrime, especially in the vulnerable small and midsized business community.
Last year, cybercrime affected more than 76% of small and midsized businesses in the U.S., a major increase from just 55% in 2015, which has inspired INCTech to create a robust set of skills, tools, and procedures to help keep businesses safe in this new, dark-web driven threat landscape.
What Exactly is the Dark Web?
There’s a lot of confusion about the dark web among business owners. One reason for this is that there are two similar but different terms, the dark web and the deep web, which some mainstream media outlets use interchangeably. Despite sounding similar, they refer to very different things.
- The Deep Web
This part of the Internet is comprised of logfiles, cache data, and other information that’s not indexed by search engines and thus generally not consumed by humans. The data on the deep web is generally not threatening to your business. - The Dark Web
The dark web is a part of the Internet that’s intentionally hidden behind layers of military-grade encryption. This is the part of the Internet where cybercriminals roam free, which is why it’s a significant focus of INCTech’s cybersecurity efforts.
Why the Dark Matters to Businesses of All Sizes
Most of the information that hackers lift from a heist will end up for sale on the dark web. This isn’t just the large corporate hacks that get mentions in the national media, but the thousands of hacks that happen every year to smaller businesses that never get reported.
A global marketplace for stolen business data
When your company data is compromised, it is likely to end up on the dark web. Almost any imaginable form of stolen data, including customer data, login credentials, and financial information is for sale on the dark web, for much less than you’d expect.
- Email credentials can be purchased for as little as fifty cents per login
- Driving license and passports are routinely priced at under 30 dollars
Many businesses don’t even know that they’re the victim of a cybercrime, let alone that their data is available on the dark web for such an accessible price. One statistic from the Federal Trade Commission, showed that information on the Dark Web was up to twenty times more likely to come from a company who had suffered an unreported data breach than a reported one.
Breeding ground for new malware
There are thousands of new malware variants created every week, which includes ransomware, trojan horses, worms, adware, and more. Most of this new malware is created and distributed on the dark web. While 2019 showed a drop in the total number malware attacks, new trends like machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are set to make new forms of malware a major force in 2020 and beyond.
How INCTech Helps You Meet the Challenges of the Dark Web
The best way to protect your business data from finding its way onto the dark web is with strong overall cybersecurity. Once your data has been leaked onto the dark web, there’s not much you can do to remediate that damage besides perform a complete overhaul of all your company’s technology.
The support of a vigilant security operations center
INCTech provides each of its managed IT services clients with comprehensive security operations center (SOC) services. A SOC is a centralized team of cybersecurity professionals who are completely focused on protecting your business from data breaches and other threats.
Our SOC team will proactively monitor and maintain your cybersecurity protections, providing you with a decisive response to the full range of cybersecurity incidents, including the latest threats proliferating on the dark web:
SOC services from INCTech provide the following benefits
- Real-time monitoring of network assets, users, and workloads
- Thorough analysis of any security incidents that require investigation
- Senior cybersecurity professionals to address all verified cybersecurity incidents
In addition, the INCTech team gathers up-to-the-minute information about all the latest security threats — including any new activity occurring on the dark web — and uses that intelligence to help improve the effectiveness of its SOC services.
Dark web scanning services
In addition to our SOC services, we also offer our clients dark web scanning. INCTech dark web scans analyze the information that’s been made available on the dark web and help you find if any of your personal or business data is there. Dark web scanning allows your business to proactively takes steps to protect yourself, if (and when) company data gets breached
- Proactively find passwords or credentials that need changing
- Monitor credit reports and bank accounts for suspicious activity
- Allows you to contact vendors, creditors, or financial institutions before major damage is done
INCTech – A Security Partner for the Dark Web Era
For almost two decades, the INCTech team has been a trusted cybersecurity partner to companies across both Southern California and Northern Michigan. We’ve helped countless businesses navigate the complex road to comprehensive cybersecurity, which includes meeting the many different challenges the dark web presents.
Does your business lack confidence in its cybersecurity programs? If so, we encourage you to reach out and speak with our friendly cybersecurity team. They’re happy to answer your questions and explain in plain English how INCTech can help you find a new level of confidence, no matter what dangers emerge from the dark web.
