The Dark Web is rapidly becoming commercialised, with multiple pages within the dark web acting as a market place to sell malware start up kits, hacking services and guides to commit cyber crime. The denizens of the dark web come in a variety of types from fraudsters, hackers and even members of terrorist organisations.
Companies must take a proactive approach to monitoring the dark-web. Josh Lefkowitz, co-founder and CEO of Flashpoint, a New York-based company focused on collecting data from the Deep and Dark Web to protect its customers, explains the diversity of the business sectors that are potentially under threat in the cyber realm as follows: “We saw an opportunity to really address an acute pain point that was not only being felt in the public sector and government agencies, but also among the private sector, financial services companies, retailers, healthcare providers and law firms.”
Companies themselves do not have to monitor the dark web inhouse. There are already a multitude of companies emerging across the globe that offer cyber and dark web monitoring capabilities. These companies will be able to provide objective and balanced analysis of any potential cyber threats to a company. This could provide a company with an early warning of a potential attack and reveal any potential weaknesses previously unknown to the company which could be exploited.
As many companies as possible should try to engage in some form of dark-web monitoring particularly if they possess sensitive customer information. This is not to suggest that this should be mandatory, particularly as some companies may not be capable of affording the services, but larger more successful companies should seek to protect themselves in as many ways as possible and dark web monitoring is one method of taking a proactive approach in their security.
The Fraudster’s Frontier
