Detect and Prevent Dark Web Credit Card Fraud
Dark Web Monitoring Security Tools
Credit Card Fraud on the Dark Web Credit card fraud on the dark web operates quite differently from what many people …
Struggling to keep track of the latest data breaches?
Wondering how Dark Web scans can help protect your business?
According to IBM, it takes organizations an average of 194 days to identify a data breach.
The same study found that, on average, organizations leveraging threat intelligence identified threats 28 days faster.
Dark Web scans are a critical part of threat intelligence.
In this post, we’ll cover what Dark Web Scans are, how they work, the types of data they find, and how best to leverage them, but first let’s talk about the Dark Web.
Contents
What Is the Dark Web?
The Dark Web is a portion of the internet not indexed by standard search engines.
It’s accessible only through specific software like the Tor browser.
It’s designed for anonymity, routing your internet traffic through multiple encryption layers to hide your identity and location.
While this anonymity is great for privacy advocates and journalists, it also serves as a haven for illegal activities.
Here, you can find markets for everything from drugs and weapons to stolen data and more.
RECOMMENDED READING: Deep Web vs. Dark Web: Understanding the Difference
How Dark Web Scans Work
Dark Web scans use specialized tools to systematically crawl through hacker forums, marketplaces, and paste sites, accessible only via networks like Tor.
These scans look for specific keywords, data breaches, or personal information that might be listed.
Common examples of detected threats include leaked credentials, company data for sale, threat actors selling initial access, and planned attacks.
By regularly monitoring these spaces, businesses can mitigate threats before they’re exploited.
What Does a Dark Web Scan Show?
A dark web scan can reveal a variety of information, including:
- Personal Data: Details like email addresses, passwords, credit card numbers, or even social security numbers listed for sale or shared in forums.
- Compromised Accounts: Accounts associated with your identity that have been hacked or are being traded on the dark web. Common examples include email, social media, and bank account credentials.
- Internet Chatter: Scans can expose threat actors discussing potential targets, planned attacks, and corporate data for sale.
- Malware and Exploits: Information about new malware, exploits, or attack tools being discussed or sold.
- Fake Identities: Sometimes, scans can uncover fake identities created using real people’s data, which could be used for fraud.
- Vendor Risks: When your vendor is breached, your data may get leaked in their breach.
How Do I Know If I Am On The Dark Web?
There are a couple of different ways to figure out if your data is on the dark web:
- Use A Dark Web Monitoring Service: Leverage a commercial service that continuously scans the Dark Web for your company’s information. These services can alert you if they find your employees’ and customers’ credentials, leaked data, and any relevant internet chatter.
- Check for Data Breach Notifications: If you’ve been part of a known data breach, you might receive notifications from the breached service or through data breach notification services like Have I Been Pwned. Using a dark web scanner can also give you an indication if your data is on the Dark Web.
- Look for Unusual Account Activity: If you notice unauthorized access to your accounts, strange password reset emails, or unfamiliar transactions, there’s a chance your data could have been compromised and is being used or sold on the Dark Web.
- Identity Theft Alerts: If you start receiving signs of identity theft, like unsolicited credit cards, strange bills, or tax issues, it might suggest your information has been exposed on the Dark Web.
Should I Be Worried if My Information Is on the Dark Web?
If your information is found on the Dark Web, it’s a cause for concern but not necessarily a reason to panic.
It indicates that your data, such as email addresses, passwords, or financial details, have been exposed through a data breach or other means.
The most important thing is to mitigate the risk as quickly as possible.
This often includes changing passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, monitoring financial accounts, and putting in place a credit freeze if sensitive data like Social Security Numbers are involved.
Can I remove my information from the Dark Web?
Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to completely remove your information from the Dark Web once it’s there.
The Dark Web operates on anonymity and lacks central authorities or customer service to request data removal.
Once your data is leaked or sold on the Dark Web, it can be duplicated and spread across multiple sites and forums.
This makes it impossible to track and eliminate all instances of your data.
Instead of trying to remove it, the best approach is to focus on damage control.
This includes changing passwords, securing accounts with multi-factor authentication, monitoring your credit and financial accounts for suspicious activity, and possibly placing a credit freeze to prevent identity theft.
Scan the Dark Web for Your Information With a Dark Web Monitoring Tool
Rather than constantly manually scanning the Dark Web, a more efficient long-term solution is to use a Dark Web Monitoring Service.
These services are specifically designed to continuously search for your data across dark web forums, Telegram channels, marketplaces, paste sites, and data breaches.
Dark Web monitoring tools send actionable alerts whenever your company information, like employee credentials, financial data, or intellectual property, appears in places it shouldn’t.
Early detection enables your security team to mitigate the risk before the data is exploited.
Integrating these alerts with automated workflows can reduce the manual intervention required and speed up the response times.
For example, Breachsense returns JSON output which can be sent to a webhook to automate the remediation process.
