Millions of data records and GBs of data from organizations around the globe were made freely available to cybercriminals to coincide with dates around Christmas of 2023. The pressure presented by cybercriminals threatening to publish data on the web is very compelling. After all, what company wants to be responsible for millions of everyday people potentially becoming victims of scams and cyber attacks? That’s right, not a single one.
Googling your organization’s name will bring up all sorts of information. However, there’s more to the internet than the surface web that’s accessed through regular search engines: the deep web and the dark web. To stay ahead of potential threats and maximize incident response performance, security teams need a complete view of their organization’s presence across all areas of the internet.
The dark web, often shrouded in mystery and intrigue, is a realm of the internet that exists beyond the reach of traditional search engines. While the Dark Web does harbor a certain notoriety for hosting illegal activities, it also contains valuable information and resources that can be beneficial for professionals involved in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and investigations.
Referenced in popular films and television programs, “The Dark Web” has achieved what many cyber security concerns fail to do in that it has entered the public consciousness. It is generally understood that the dark web is a collection of on-line sites and marketplaces, notorious for facilitating illegal activities and harboring stolen information.
Dark web scans, also known as data breach scans, are scans that let you know if your personal information, such as your email and login credentials, is on the dark web. There are several free and paid dark web scans available online to use and each of them works differently. Continue reading to learn what the dark web is, how dark web scans work and how to initiate a dark web scan.
If your credit card information is on the dark web you need to immediately contact your credit card issuer, monitor your online accounts for any suspicious activity or transactions, check your credit report and place a fraud alert on your credit report as an extra precaution. Continue reading to learn how your credit card information could have gotten on the dark web and how to keep your credit card information safe in the future.