Dark Web Monitoring Services

[Faheemkhatri4]

Dark web monitoring searches for stolen information that has been leaked online or sold by cybercriminals on criminal forums. This information can include compromised passwords, credentials, intellectual property and more.

A good dark web monitoring service can alert deep web links businesses if data breaches, impersonations or vulnerabilities are detected on criminal forums and marketplaces. It should also integrate with existing security platforms to automate incident response.
1. Identifying Potential Threats

When data breaches occur, a threat intelligence solution monitors the open, deep and dark web for stolen data such as credit cards, email addresses, passwords and more. The solution scours these criminal forums and provides notifications if personal information is found, allowing companies to take the necessary steps to mitigate damage.

In addition, a dark web monitoring service can detect early warning signs of cyber attacks such as hacking tools for sale or discussions of targeted organizations. These can then be fed into security information and event management (SIEM) solutions to improve detection and response capabilities.

Many MSPs use third-party tools to add dark web monitoring to their services, either by white labeling it as a standalone product or integrating it into a specialized cybersecurity services package for their clients. This allows them to quickly deploy and scale up their services without having to build out the capability in-house or hire the staff needed to run it.

A dark web monitoring service scourers the hard-to-find, anonymized websites on the dark web for leaked data and credentials, such as email addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank account details, passport number, and more. These sites are not indexed by search engines and can be difficult to find. When this data is discovered, the user is notified so they can partake in preventive measures such as changing passwords or freezing credit.

Using the CrowdStrike Falcon Intelligence Recon platform, a dark web scanning tool, users can easily create queries to monitor for stolen data such as passwords and other personal information in forums frequented by hackers. The tool also has easy wizards that save time for security teams while minimizing false positives and noise. It also offers augmented dictionaries, including slang, to ensure threats are detected and contextualized.
2. Detecting Malicious Activity

People can do a lot to help protect their personal information, from practicing good password security to using a password manager or a password-protected screen saver. Taking precautions in real life is also a good idea, such as storing important documents safely and keeping personal information off of public social media sites. However, even with these best practices in place, cybercriminals still find ways to steal data and sell it online for profit. Constant monitoring with fast alerts can help detect threats before they spread on the dark web and prevent them from impacting a business' bottom line.

A common way hackers get access to personal and business information is through data breaches or leaks that occur when a company's databases are compromised and leaked or sold online. Then, these stolen credentials can be used by criminals to commit various attacks and crimes, such as phishing, malware, skimmer attacks at gas stations or ATMs, doxing, and more. Dark web scanning tools work by scouring the deep and dark web on a continuous basis for leaked or stolen information, like email addresses, phone numbers, bank account information, credit card and debit card details, social security number, health records, credentials, and more.

The software is similar to a search engine, looking for these kinds of data on websites that are known to host the types of information malicious actors are selling and sharing. The monitoring service can then flag when a piece of PII is found on these websites and alert the appropriate individuals or teams to take steps to take precautions. These services can be especially valuable when it comes to detecting attacks from third-parties and partners, or to identify breaches in local offices or small businesses that are not getting the attention they deserve from the press.
3. Identifying Suspected Insiders

A business can get a dark web monitoring service to alert them when stolen employee credentials appear on an online marketplace. This is an indication that a company’s network or a third-party application or website used by employees has been breached, which could allow attackers to get into corporate systems and steal or manipulate data.

These services work by entering a name or email address and scouring forums and websites that sell leaked personal information. They also scan unauthorized sites that offer free lists of personal data like names, email addresses, credit card numbers and social security codes. A good Dark Web scanning tool can flag the information, so that a business can change passwords and cancel cards if necessary.

Another way a dark web monitoring service can help is by finding indications of insider threats, such as stolen corporate credentials or intellectual property. This is a key reason why companies should consider using this type of tool.

A Dark Web scanning service can also detect data breaches as they happen. This can reduce the time that sensitive information is exposed to hackers, allowing a business to mitigate threats faster. This also gives cybercriminals less opportunity to use the information they’ve acquired.
4. Identifying Data Breaches

The dark web is an online underworld where criminals sell stolen personal information, including passwords, financial records, intellectual property and more. Monitoring the dark web for these types of stolen data can help identify data breaches and mitigate them before they cause damage to an organization.

Often, it can take months before a company discovers that its confidential information has been exposed on the dark web. However, the right monitoring solution can detect and notify businesses as soon as their data appears in dark web forums and marketplaces. This helps reduce the window of opportunity cybercriminals have to exploit the data, and it can also minimize the impact on a company’s reputation.

Dark web monitoring services can be part of a broader security solutions set, such as an SIEM or a threat intelligence platform (STIG). However, they also work independently by regularly scanning the open and dark web for mentions of credentials, IP addresses, sensitive data and more. They can then connect those threats to other security systems and provide context that improves the effectiveness of detection, investigation and mitigation efforts.

These services can also be used to monitor third-party applications and websites that users access from a company’s network. For example, a cybercriminal could hijack the email account of an employee and use it to spread malicious software or blackmail the victim into paying a ransom. The dark web can also help with this type of exploitation by searching for compromised emails and passwords on sites such as Have I Been Pwned, which offers a free service that checks whether your email address has appeared in any known data breaches.

In addition, a dark web monitoring service can provide early warning of data leaks by tracking the activity on hidden channels such as TOR, I2P, ZeroNet and Telegram that have become popular among hackers. These tools can deliver a comprehensive list of alerts on a daily basis about usernames, passwords, PII and more that appear on dark web forums and marketplaces.
5. Identifying Vulnerabilities

When data breaches and stolen passwords find their way to the dark web, they can be used by cyber criminals to commit a wide range of crimes. These can include account takeover, phishing, identity theft and financial fraud. This is why it’s essential for businesses to know if their information has been leaked, so they can quickly and efficiently respond to prevent any damage.

This is where dark web monitoring services can help. These tools scour the deep and dark web for references to your business, whether it’s your brand name, corporate identity or email addresses of employees or high-level executives. They then deliver real-time alerts when potential threats are detected, helping you to take proactive steps to mitigate risks.

Many of these services, such as Brandefense or CTM360, also provide intelligence on attack methodologies and threat actors that you can use to bolster your defenses. These can range from tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to malware variants. They can also provide a window into active conversations on the dark web that reference your corporate assets, such as brands or domains.

Finally, a good dark web monitoring service should offer streamlined automation to make it as easy as possible for you to implement and integrate their data with your existing security infrastructure. This can be done through integrations with security information and event management (SIEM) systems, endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions and threat intelligence platforms.

For example, SOCRadar integrates with a variety of SIEM solutions and has a number of free tools that allow you to manually check for compromised credentials on the dark web. However, for more comprehensive reoccurring monitoring you’ll want to consider their RiskPrime service that offers monitoring of PII as well as VIP tracking and reputation monitoring as well as phishing and spoofed message detection.