Why Does My Business Need Dark Web Monitoring?

Why Does My Business Need Dark Web Monitoring?

The Dark Web is an invisible and hidden part of the Web that provides a breeding ground for criminal activities worldwide. It’s not used just for selling illegal drugs and weapons, but for selling your stolen business and client data.

The Dark Web doesn’t pose a direct threat to your business like phishing and ransomware does, you may not consider it important to add this to your security strategy. Whether you know this or not, the Dark Web is a major threat. It’s like a covert operation that threatens to expose your company secrets and damage your reputation beyond repair.

The Dark Web is an invisible and hidden part of the Web that provides a breeding ground for criminal activities worldwide. It’s not used just for selling illegal drugs and weapons, but for selling your stolen business and client data.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI) are at risk.

Thieves steal and sell databases, credit card information, financial transactions, leaked emails, user logins and credentials, and company secrets that can financially harm your business. They profit after committing theft through phishing attacks or by using compromised employee login credentials.

They use the Dark Web to do this.

The Dark Web Is Considered A Major Threat According To The U.S. Government

The moment the Feds shut down two sites, it seems that four more spring into use.

“The Darknet is ever-changing and increasingly more intricate, making locating and targeting those selling illicit items on this platform more complicated,” Derek Benner, executive associate director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), said in a statement.

The Feds are serious about Dark Web Monitoring. On Tuesday, June 26, 2018, a bill passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee calling on the White House to develop a publicly available list of advanced persistent threat groups named by the U.S. government. The bill is called the Cyber Deterrence and Response Act of 2018.

Is My Small Business A Target?

The definitive answer is “Yes.”

It’s not just big businesses that are targets – cybercriminals look for businesses like yours because you probably have fewer IT security resources in place than your larger counterparts.

Large corporations spend hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars on cybersecurity.

But many small business owners aren’t spending enough or paying attention to these threats. Hackers know this, so they’ll put businesses like yours in their bull’s eye.

And they know that you’re less likely to detect a breach, so you’re not likely to detect the sale of stolen information on the Dark Web. This makes your small business a prime target.

So, What Does Dark Web Monitoring Do?

Dark web monitoring is an identity theft prevention product that lets you monitor your confidential business information on the Dark Web and receive notifications if it’s found online.

You’ll be in control of the information you want to be monitored. You’ll receive alerts via email if any of this information is found on the Dark Web. Your service will let you know any next steps you should take if this happens.

How Will It Benefit My Business?

Businesses of any size can benefit from complete security and protection through intelligence. But the right strategies must be put into place to fight all types of threats.

With Dark Web Monitoring, you’ll have 24/7 surveillance to make sure that your company is 100% safe.

Dark Web Monitoring:

·          

o   Reduces the amount of time between the occurrence of a data breach and you find out about it.

o   Shrinks the window of opportunity criminals have to make copies of your data and sell it.

o   Prevents the threat of your company’s confidential data leaving your perimeter without you knowing it’s gone.

o   Keeps your clients, employees, key executives, and high-profile personnel from being exploited on the Dark Web.

Monitoring of the Dark Web will locate instances of sensitive data or signs of an attack related to your business or brand, your key assets, private information, and consumer data.

What Should I Look For In A Dark Web Monitoring Service?

There are many Dark Web Monitoring Services out there. To help, here are some of the key characteristics you should look for in a solution:

·        Dark Web Threat Alerts –You’ll benefit from proactive monitoring for your stolen or compromised data. It provides you with real-time alerts when data is found on the Dark Web.

·        Compromised Data Tracking & Reporting – This service tracks and triages incidents and manages risks with logging and reporting.

·        Compromised Data Trending & Benchmarking – You’ll gain insights into your current threat posture and be able to benchmark it against your peers and the industry you serve.

·        Supply Chain Threat Monitoring – Now you can monitor your third-party vendors to determine if they are a potential risk to your organization. This is important for businesses in healthcare, law, and others that must comply with industry and government regulations.

·        client Management – You can better secure your clients by providing them the actionable intelligence to help protect against potential data breaches.

The right Dark Web Monitoring will also provide a $1,000,000 identity theft restoration policy, and proactively protect your employees and clients while enhancing their overall cybersecurity awareness.

Data breaches are likely to continue. In the meantime, you should take action to prevent your business from financial or reputational damage. Signing up for a Dark Web Monitoring Service is one way you can do this.

Midland Technologies’ Cybersecurity Technology Helps Local Businesses Protect Their Networks Against Global Attacks

Midland Technologies, a leading unified communications provider, helps local businesses protect their networks against growing global attacks. The company’s state-of- the-art cyber security technology

and defense plan enables customers to avoid being held hostage to hackers from other countries’ ransomware attacks which have already been launched on a world- wide scale. Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) need to understand the nature of this threat and what appropriate steps they can take in order to secure their technology infrastructure from future breaches.

One of the most recent and frightening attacks is the WannaCry ransomware attack. Since launch, it has affected 150 countries and over 200,000 computers. Most users were made vulnerable after failing to upgrade their old Windows PCs with the latest software upgrades and security patches, which is often the case for SMBs. Since most business owners are focused on increasing revenues, satisfying customers and driving profit, technological vulnerabilities are often an oversight. For victims of the WannaCry attack, employees were locked out of critical data, forms and documents they needed and users couldn’t work properly unless the business owner paid the ransom to regain access to the files. This is a dire situation for any business owner especially because there is no guarantee that this is a one-time offense. This isn’t the first global attack, nor is it likely to be the last.

Midland Technologies actively fights these cybercriminals and advises all of its customers on how

to handle these challenging scenarios. Midland Technologies has developed a unique approach

for combatting cyberattacks, like WannaCry. A stool requires all three legs to maintain its structure, and so does Midland Technologies three-pronged defense. First, business owners must set the perimeter with a managed firewall as-a-service. While many businesses may already have a firewall in place it is important to regularly update the firewall, in order to prevent new threats from entering the business. Firewalls need to be actively strengthened in the same way that a stool needs to be checked from time to time in order to make certain that a screw hasn’t come loose. When a hacker finds a loose screw in the firewall, they can exploit it and take the whole network down, which is exactly why businesses not only need a firewall, but a managed firewall.

Second, businesses need to establish anti-virus and malware protection through proactive monitoring and patching for all servers and desktops. In the same way that firewalls need ongoing management and maintenance, so do anti-virus and malware protection services. This second leg in the stool is critical to strengthen, in order to support both the first and the third legs. 

The third and final leg of protection is to ensure that the company has a proven backup and disaster recovery solution providing onsite appliance with image based backups for quick restoral of files folders. This is especially important if servers reside on site. This leg of protection ensures that even if a

breach makes it all the way into the network, the company can quickly reboot and recover sensitive data almost instantaneously. If the company is in the cloud, data is almost impenetrable.“The recent, massively,

publicized attacks that have occurred on a global basis is just the beginning,” stated Jason Smith,

CEO of Midland Technologies. “Unfortunately, cybercrime will never go away. We have made an investment in the proper cybersecurity technology and highly skilled professionals to ensure that our customers’ networks remain secure. Our focus is on handling everything technical so our customers can focus on their businesses and drive their own profits. As they reach new levels of profitability, our business does better and it ends as a win-win for everyone. That’s what makes us different.”