Dark Web Monitoring
User names and passwords represent the keys to the kingdom for malicious attackers.
If your credentials are compromised, they are bought and sold on the Dark Web.
Small businesses need dark web monitoring for today’s Cybersecurity risk.
Digital Credentials at Risk
39% of adults in the U.S. use the same or very similar password for multiple online services. The 18-29 age bracket increases to 47%.
Passwords are a twentieth-century solution to a twenty-first century problem. Unfortunately, user names and passwords – the most common digital credentials used today – are all that stands between your employees and vital online service including corporate networks, social media sites, e-commerce sites, and others. A good security practice is to use a completely different password for every service, but the fact is that nearly 40% of Americans replicate the same or very similar passwords for each service they use.
How Are Credentials Compromised?
Phishing
Emails sent disguised as legitimate messages that trick users into disclosing credentials or deliver malware that captures credentials
Malvertising
Inject malware into legitimate online advertising networks and deliver malware to visitors that captures credentials
Watering Holes
Target a popular website and inject malware into the code of the site that delivers malware to visitors that captures their credentials
Web Attacks
Scan internet-facing company assets for vulnerabilities, exploiting them to gain access through the network to discover credentials
What can an attacker do with compromised credentials?
Send spam from compromised email accounts
Deface web properties and host malicious content
Install malware on compromised systems
Compromise other accounts using the same credentials
Exfiltrate sensitive data (data breach)
Identity theft
For those who make credentials available on the Dark Web, the financial rewards can be significant. A criminal dealing in stolen credentials can make tens of thousands of dollars from interested buyers.
By selling those credentials to multiple buyers, organizations that experience a breach can easily come under digital assault from dozens to hundreds of attackers.
How will you know there is a compromise unless a data breach results in theft?
