The Shocking Truths About The Dark Web

Shocking truths about the Dark Web

Does the name Silk Road ring a bell? If you answered yes, then you have undoubtedly heard about the Dark Web. Ross Ulbricht was notoriously convicted for illegally selling drugs on what was, at the time, the first darknet black market. The dark web has evolved since it was first created by the US Government in the 1990s. Its original use was for spies to exchange information anonymously. It’s now virtually accessible by anyone with an anonymization browsing software called Tor.

The surface web is full of indexed sites that we all access regularly such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc. The second layer is labeled as the deep web which are sites that require special login credentials such as online banking platforms. The third layer is the dark web. This makes up a suite of websites that you can only access using Tor software.

What Makes The Dark Web Especially Scary For Business Professionals?

The dark web is a hotbed for criminals whose sole job is to buy and sell corporate data. Yes, that’s right. Your corporate data can get into the wrong hands, without you even knowing it. Your passwords, credit cards, banking information can all be bought by people whose identities are unlikely to ever be found. This is a scary fact, considering most people associate the dark web with drugs, weapons dealings, and illegal pornography.

Compromised information, such as passwords, are the perfect gateway for hackers to get to the real information they are looking for. As of February 2019, there were 617 million accounts stolen from hacked sites for sale on the dark web. That’s no small number, considering these were from only 16 hacked sites.

Now you’re probably wondering, who are these buyers? Why do they want my information? That’s a fair question, but the only answer we have is…we just don’t know. Due to the nature of the dark web, these identities are perfectly hidden. But what we do know, is that these are professionals who make a living off of scouring through weak security vulnerabilities.

The strangest and the most shocking part about all of this is that the US Government funds Tor, the gateway into the dark web. What originally started as a solution for the U.S. Navy to share and gather information without other countries noticing, has now been opened up to any individual who dares to go in. Seems strange that the entity that enforces the laws is the one opened it up to its whole illicit being.

How Can I Tell If My Information Is On The Dark Web?

The good news is, you can actually find out if you or your organization have been compromised. With Cyber Unit’s Cyber Protect Plan, we offer 24/7 dark web monitoring so if you or your employees having any information leaked onto the dark web, you’ll be notified right away.

Wondering if your information is floating around the dark web right now? Get in Touch with us today!

‍