Picture it: you just found out that your business network has been breached and that some highly valuable data has been stolen. Not only are you wondering why someone stole your data, but where it might end up.
Stolen information typically ends up on the Dark Web. The Dark Web is the digital equivalent of the wild west. Unavailable to the casual internet user, the Dark Web houses a treasure trove of stolen information, offering it for sale and trade on chat groups and online forums. People buy, sell and trade collections of personal information, credit cards, health records, and a wealth of other information with impunity; there’s no easy way for law enforcement to police the Dark Web, let along capture the bad guys.
Just like the world wide web, once some piece of information is stolen and put on the dark web, it’s out there forever in most cases. Even if a site that’s hosting stolen information is taken down, most information resides in multiple locations globally, making it almost impossible to find and delete every instance of information that’s out there.
After your data has been stolen, it is sold to the highest bidder on the dark web. If you’re curious how much this data is worth, privacyaffairs.com has a list of the going rate for things like credit card numbers with pin ($25-$35/card), stolen online bank logins ($40-$120/login) and PayPal account details ($30-$120/account). This is just a small sample of the type of data criminals are interested in paying for.
So, what can you do to protect your information and your company data from ending up on the dark web?
- Use strong passwords and change them regularly
- Make sure you only browse on secure internet sites and use a VPN over public Wi-Fi
- Always safeguard your personal information, both physically and virtually
In addition, QuickProtect offers its clients Dark Web Monitoring. Dark Web Monitoring helps shine a light on the dark web, notifying you if there is a potential breach of your company’s information. We look for evidence of account compromises and watch for PII (Personally Identifiable Information) such as home addresses and social insurance/social security numbers. To learn more about Dark Web Monitoring, contact QuickProtect.
