The dark web continues to thrive. Cyber-espionage groups plan and coordinate cyberattacks against companies and their executives using this hidden area of the internet. These cyber criminals operate anonymously, reign with impunity, and easily exchange large volumes of confidential information such as credit card numbers, insurance information, banking details, sell ammunition and munitions, child pornography, and more, leveraging tacktics such as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and Account Takeover (ATO).

According to Constella 2020 Identity Breach Report, in 2019, the DDoSecrets website listed vast amounts of data from governmental leaks. Anonymous group of researchers, tech experts, activists, and journalists leaked 106.69GB of data, which was referred to as the “Dark Side of the Kremlin.” Data contained thousands of emails and personal documents about senior Russian politicians, military officials, oligarchs, and religious scholars.

Organizations must proactively monitor and gain real-time visibility into the dark web attacks so that their leaders can act decisively to safeguard their customers and protect critical assets. To this end, they need to deploy real-time intelligence and smart infiltration technology to better defend themselves in the face of these threats.

In this blog post, we will delve into some sophisticated techniques that can be used to prevent cyber threats and attacks that lead to Dark Web bounty.

Smart Technology

Generally, Computer Security and Incident Respond Team (CSIRT) in the Security Operation Centers (SOC) manually search the dark web through conventional threat analysis tools to detect cyber threats. Traditional methods are not reliable and smart. Therefore, organizations must leverage a smart, automated technology that mimics human behavior to interact with threat actors and adversaries and penetrate their networks.

Traditional security tools, such as the conventional Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system, open the floodgates of false positives in the SOC. Fortunately, the tool equipped with smart, automated technology can reduce false positives significantly and is a scalable alternative to manual threat analysis. The example includes the modern, analytics-driven SIEM.

Dark Web Surveillance

Deploying a next-generation DWM (Dark Web Monitoring) tool that will provide direct monitoring of marketplaces and other dark web sites to find out references to criminal activities and stolen data related to your organization is a front-line first-line defense. Some work should be done manually. For example, human analysts will perform some part of threat intelligence and link key points of data to attacker’s personas to continue dark web surveillance and monitor for changes in activities. Doing so can help you to stay protected against the menace of dark web attacks.

Moreover, you also need to gain deep visibility into imminent dark web threats. For this to be done effectively, you must look for a good dark web monitoring service that can 24/7 monitor multiple cybercrime zones, including the dark web, forums, chat sites, social networks, dumpsites like Pastebin, and more.

Change Password

Human error can have serious consequences for your organization. The same password for multiple accounts can put your finances and reputation at risk. According to the Psychology of Passwords Report, released by LastPass by LogMeIn, 91% of users know that using the same password on multiple accounts is dangerous. Nevertheless, 66% of them continue to use the same password anyway. Gnosticsplayers, a group of hackers, posted millions of user accounts for sale on the dark web and earned thousands of dollars in bitcoins.

There is a dire need to change the password behavior. Otherwise, even a strong security posture can compromise the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) of your company’s and your clients’ data. For example, breached information of a single employee can provide a gaping hole in the attack surface of your company that threat actors can use it to infiltrate your corporate network. Change your password at least every 45 days. Don’t ever use the same password for every account. Always use complex and long passwords. Don’t use common passwords such as 123456, 00000, first name, last name, or country name. More importantly, wherever possible use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), this can add an additional layer of security to your accounts.

The Bottom Line (Conclusion)

In this blog post, we shed a light on the dark web and some techniques used to prevent dark web attacks. We observe that organizations should use some modern and next-generation dark web security tools based on smart technology and dark web surveillance to better safeguard corporate data and other assets against dark web attacks. Moreover, you should also monitor your employees’ password behavior to ensure that they are complying with your company’s password policy.

References

• https://www.coresecurity.com/blog/cybersecurity-dangers-dark-web-and-how-protect-your-organization
• https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/92318-of-people-know-password-reuse-is-insecure-yet-75-do-it-anyway
• https://www.enzoic.com/prevent-password-cracking/
• https://www.opsecsecurity.com/opsec-online/antifraud-dark-web-and-cyber-intelligence
• https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/articles/darknet-the-shady-underbelly-of-the-iceberg/
• https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/deep-web