How Enterprises Can Use Dark Web Monitoring to Mitigate Threats

It’s easy to think of the dark web as the online home of certain types of illegal activity like money laundering and narcotics trafficking. But the dark web, also known as the darknet, is also a breeding ground for cyberattacks against corporations, healthcare institutions, and government entities. Enter dark web monitoring as a way to thwart such attacks.

Denver, Colorado-based DarkOwl explains that dark web monitoring is the practice of using a variety of sophisticated tools to continually scan the darknet for intelligence data. It often involves the use of a threat intelligence platform capable of gathering information, normalizing and enriching it, and turning it into actionable information through which organizations can protect themselves against threats.

The big question for enterprises is how they can leverage dark web monitoring to keep their own systems safe. It is not hard to do in principle. In practice, it can be challenging. Perhaps that’s why organizations often turn to experts like DarkOwl.

Dark Web Monitoring for Early Detection

Early detection offers potential victims a big advantage in any security situation. It certainly does in cybersecurity. Therefore, a key emphasis for dark web monitoring is identifying threats as early in the game as possible. Here are two examples:

• Identifying Breaches – Dark web monitoring can identify security breaches that have ultimately made sensitive information available across the darknet. Identifying a breach informs an organization that future attacks may be forthcoming.

• Attack Planning – Monitoring can also inform organizations about attacks that are currently in the planning stages. Just by monitoring darknet chatter, organizations can learn a lot about what bad actors are up to.

Early detection means early response. And the earlier an organization responds to potential threats, the better its position when the threats are realized.

Understanding the Threat Landscape

Even when there are no pending threats or active breaches to be concerned about, dark web monitoring is still valuable to enterprises. Consider the threat landscape. It is continually evolving. It changes as threat actors modify their strategies and adopt new tactics. Therefore, it’s in an organization’s best interests to always be cognizant of the current landscape.

Continually monitoring the dark web keeps organizations abreast of what is happening. With tools like comprehensive scanning, chatter monitoring, and multi-language coverage, organizations never have to be behind the times. They can know and understand the landscape at any point in time.

Monitoring Supply Chain Risks

Understanding an organization’s vulnerabilities doesn’t stop at its doors. Whenever there are third-party partners involved, an organization needs to know the risks those parties pose. With that in mind, dark web monitoring is a good tool for gathering information on supply chain risks.

Monitoring can reveal mentions of a third-party partner on the dark web. It could reveal breaches of a partner’s data or any potential exposure a partner might have to a pending attack. Any such information could prove invaluable in an organization’s ongoing efforts to harden itself against potential threats.

Preparing for the Inevitable

Even with the most robust security, no organization can guarantee that it will never be breached. Therefore, dark web monitoring provides one more valuable advantage: it helps organizations prepare for those attacks that do get through. The right data can confirm breaches, provide a detailed impact assessment, and point the way forward to fast and appropriate recovery.

In the fight against cybercrime, monitoring the dark web is no longer an option. The dark web is where cyberattacks originate. Therefore, it is in an organization’s best interests to continually monitor it for any and all information that could help them in their own defense.