How Dark Web Monitoring Helps Potential Cyber Crime Victims

It is normal to think of dark web monitoring from the perspective of the company trying to protect sensitive data from threat actors. We even consider the position of service providers who specialize in dark web monitoring. What about the ultimate victims of cybercrime: consumers?

A hacker breaching a healthcare provider website is generally after patient data that can be leveraged to steal identities, access bank accounts and credit cards, and so forth. Some threat actors don’t even use the data themselves. They post it for sale on the dark web. Anyone choosing to buy it can use the information for a number of nefarious purposes.

Dark web monitoring is as important to potential victims as it is to the organizations tasked with protecting their data – even if they don’t know it. For that reason alone, any organization that gathers and stores data electronically owes it to consumers to invest in dark web monitoring.

A Significant Breach in Rhode Island

Illustrating the need for dark web monitoring is a case emerging out of Rhode Island. According to news sources, threat actors illegally accessed the state’s system for health and benefit programs. Sensitive consumer data has since been posted to the dark web.

Rhode Island officials still don’t know how much data has been stolen. Moreover, they do not know how much of what has been stolen has already been posted online. State officials are now encouraging residents to take the necessary steps to protect themselves against identity theft and other cyber-crimes.

Meanwhile, the state is working with contractors to determine the scope of the attack. They are in the early stages of sending letters to impacted individuals, letters providing instructions on how to proceed as well as information on free credit monitoring services.

No Organization Is Immune

I will give the state of Rhode Island the benefit of the doubt. I will assume they utilize the most robust cybersecurity practices available to them. That being the case, the recent data breach proves that no organization is immune.

Government computer networks in all fifty states are potential targets. Likewise for federal networks and databases. Also on the hit list are global corporations, large enterprises, and even small and mid-size businesses. Hackers will go after any data they believe has the potential to lead to a payday.

The Role of Dark Web Monitoring

In its defense, Rhode Island has been preparing for this sort of thing for quite some time. It was through dark web monitoring they discovered protected data published on the dark web. Armed with that knowledge, they can take proactive steps to mitigate the potential damage.

It turns out that this is the whole purpose of dark web monitoring. Organizations like DarkOwl offer monitoring and threat intelligence services designed to pay attention to what is happening in darknet circles and on dark web sites.

Threat intelligence data gleaned from continual monitoring is useful for:

• Identifying data breaches
• Identifying emerging threats
• Monitoring ongoing threats
• Learning about new cyber-crime techniques
• Staying abreast of threat actor chatter

Dark web monitoring platforms are designed to scan the entirety of the dark web looking for anything that might provide clues to what threat actors are doing. Platforms look for stolen account credentials, personally identifying information (PII), company trade secrets, and more. They also look for incidents of hackers swapping information, sharing exploits, and so forth.

Dark web monitoring may prove yet again, in Rhode Island, to be the most important cybersecurity tool for mitigating attack damage. For that reason alone, every organization that gathers and stores sensitive data should be invested in it.