Cybercheck  >  Blog  >  Dark web monitoring: Your critical defense against cyber crime
Dark web monitoring: Your critical defense against cyber crime

Dark web monitoring: Your critical defense against cyber crime

Dark web monitoring: Your critical defense against cyber crime
Ilaria MunariMon Nov 18 20244 min read

Dark web monitoring means tracking compromised data thats being exchanged on the dark web.

The dark web is where cybercriminals buy and sell stolen information that they can use to commit hacking, theft, or fraud. If data about you or your organization falls into the wrong hands, the impacts can be severe. For example:

  • Financial losses: Investigating and mitigating an incident costs money. You may also lose revenue, be fined by regulators, or face legal action by customers or partners.

  • Operational disruption: Dealing with a data leak will be stressful and time-consuming, sapping resources and focus from your core business.

  • Reputational damage: Losing the trust of your customers, partners, and stakeholders can harm your brand, reputation, and market position in the long term.

  • Loss of intellectual property: Leaked knowledge or trade secrets can end up in the hands of your rivals, weakening your competitive edge.

  • Regulatory sanctions: Failing to comply with data privacy regulations such as GDPR can lead to fines or other penalties.

Using specialized tools and techniques, dark web monitoring services can detect stolen data relating to your organization and alert you immediately. That means you can act fast to change passwords, block credit cards, notify affected parties, and implement additional security measures before the cybercriminals make you their next victim.

All organizations can benefit from dark web monitoring

Certain industries are particularly at risk because of the kinds of data they gather and store. For example:

  • Banks and insurance companies handle financial data about their customers

  • Healthcare providers store large volumes of sensitive patient data.

However, organizations of all sizes in all industries are in danger from cyber attacks. Individuals can also be targets. For example, senior executives with high-profile roles and access to highly sensitive information.

In an increasingly dangerous online world, a strategic approach to cyber security is critical. Dark web monitoring can help keep you and your organization safe and secure.

How personal information gets stolen

Cybercriminals can steal personal information in various ways, such as:

  • Data breaches: Exploiting vulnerabilities in systems to steal data.

  • Social engineering: Using techniques such as phishing messages to trick their victims into handing over confidential information.

  • Infostealers: Malware installed on a computer or device that secretly gathers files and data and transmits them to a server controlled by cybercriminals.

Staying ahead of fast-moving threats and ensuring regulatory compliance

The market for stolen data on the dark web is fast-moving and highly profitable, and new threats are emerging constantly.

If your computer or device is infected with infostealer malware, your data can be on the dark web within hours. Intimate details about you can be in the hands of cybercriminals before you notice theyve been stolen.

By contrast, organizations often move slowly to protect themselves. According to a 2022 report by IBM, the average data breach takes more than 200 days to discover. By the time a breach is detected, cybercriminals can have already caused serious harm.

Dark web monitoring can alert your organization to compromised data quickly so you can take rapid preventive measures. This also helps you to keep financial data and other personally identifiable information (PII) secure and confidential in compliance with regulations like GDPR.

Cybercheck: Dark web monitoring to keep you and your organization safe

The dark web is vast and fast-moving, with new sites and channels created every day. Continuous monitoring is the only way to stay ahead of emerging threats.

At Cybercheck, we provide advanced dark web monitoring capabilities, allowing organizations like yours to monitor their digital domains against data breaches.

We scan for compromised email addresses, passwords, physical addresses, identity profiles, financial data, and more. If cybercriminals are trading information about you or your organization, we see it and alert you right away.

That means you can take action and stop the cybercriminals before they make you their next victim.

Are you exposed?

Find out how much data about you and your organization's employees is exposed on the dark web — credentials, credit card records, recent data breach exposures, malware infections, and more.