The Dark Web: What It Is and Why It Matters to Your Employees

In today's digital economy, three simple words are guaranteed to sow fear and confusion: the dark web.

It's the domain of everything from illicit drugs and weapons dealing, to stolen company data and sophisticated cyberattacks. These shadowy corners of the internet contain society's deepest darkest fears; they may be out of sight but their risks are ever-present.

Privacy should form the bedrock of the modern internet.

At IDX, we're committed to making the digital world a safer place for ordinary users.

One aspect of that mission is to demystify the dark web for companies and offer a variety of data breach responses, including:

• Monitoring attempts at dark web access
• Preventing any dark web browser downloads
• Educating your employees to recognize risks and threats
• Dark web monitoring of credit reports

It's important to realize that an ordinary user is not going to stumble onto the dark web without realizing it. Your employees are not going to accidentally enter the wrong URL into a browser and end up embroiled in some ransomware hack that threatens your organization. People who find themselves in this version of the web have actively taken steps to get there.

But that doesn't mean they are not vulnerable to threats.

The three levels of the internet

As you're no doubt starting to realize, there is a lot more to the internet than what you see on-screen. Let's unpack the three layers that make up the modern web.

The surface web

This is the internet as most of us experience it today. It's open and fast and available to anyone with a browser and an internet connection. Giant corporations like Google, Facebook, TikTok, and others are the windows into the surface web that, by and large, regulate how we experience the web on a day-to-day basis.

Because it's what is right in front of us at all times, the surface web appears to be the whole internet. It's surprising to discover that the surface web only accounts for 4% of the internet, according to a post from TechJury.

The deep web

Also known as the invisible web, the deep web is a crucial but often misunderstood part of the internet. This is the part of the internet that is not indexed by search engines, and it represents the more secure layer of the internet. For example, your bank account details, healthcare records, email account, and file sharing apps are all private information that you don't want other people to be able to search for but are vital for the functionality of the web. The surface web and the deep web combine to enable so much of what we do online today.

The dark web

This is the murky, hidden part of the internet where most of the illegal activity takes place. To access the dark web, you need to use a special browser, called a Tor browser, and a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that hides your identity. There are no .com addresses on the dark web, instead, most websites use URLs that end in .onion, but once you're inside, it functions much like the ordinary internet.

Studies of the dark web reveal that:

• 59% of listings on marketplaces were for illicit drugs and drug-related chemicals
• Fraud and counterfeit listings account were the next highest, at 17% of all listing

But we do need to be very clear about something; the dark web is not illegal in and of itself. The extreme privacy it offers is warranted in some situations.

For example, freedom fighters in nations, whistleblowers against corruption, and even some investigative journalists risking their lives to break a story rely on the dark web to keep their secrets, and that should never be made illegal.

But the simple fact that you need to use a VPN and a special browser to access the dark web makes it a very attractive option for those who are engaging in criminal activity.

Safeguarding your company and your employees

Understanding the risks and taking proactive steps ahead of time is key to thwarting dark web access. Here are three important tools you can deploy.

Education

By far the most important thing you can do for your workforce is to educate them about the dangers of the internet. The more they know and understand, the better the chances are that they will recognize a threat before it becomes a problem. Most of the time, people are unaware they are engaging in risky behavior online.

Take a look at this handy infographic that illustrates how employees put their company at risk. Did you know that 88% of cyber incidents are caused by human error?

Encourage digital hygiene

All too often, bad actors from within the dark web find loopholes they can exploit through employee negligence.

People losing their personal devices or leaving them unattended in public spaces; employees resigning and forgetting that they have access details to their old companies, simple passwords, documents left lying unattended on unsecured printers - there are a hundred ways for vulnerabilities to creep into the system.

But creating a culture of good digital hygiene in the age of remote work is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle that you can put in place at your company.

Know how to react when a breach has occurred

The first few moments after a breach is detected are vital. Make sure that you have a Pre-Breach Incident Response Plan in place so that everyone knows how to react when there is a data breach. Do you know what's been compromised? Who is in charge? Are you shutting down operations or not? What do you tell your customers?

These questions need to be answered and understood by your team so that you're not making up a response on the fly when a cyberattack occurs.

Remote work has made hacking much easier

Cybercrime is on the rise around the world. Well-organized criminal syndicates operate like multi-national corporations and scour the digital landscape looking for opportunities.

The growth in remote work and the use of the public internet to log in means employees are often forced to operate without the safety net of a corporate firewall, and this has made companies more vulnerable.

Extra vigilance is required and is part of the reason why cybersecurity is such a fast-growing industry. HR leaders across the workforce are committed to educating and protecting their organizations and are part of the reason why https://www.idx.us/idx-identity/plansPrivacy and Identity Protection have become such highly requested employee benefits.

IDX Identity is built on the most secure platform available and backed by our recovery guarantee. Our Dark Web CyberScan^TM Monitoring solution is a game-changer; operating like a surveillance engine, it proactively searches the internet and the dark web - from websites to blogs, bulletin boards, (“IRC”) channels, and beyond to seek out compromised personal information and trigger an alert if personal data is detected.

Following dark web news and running dark web email scans are vital aspects of successful dark web monitoring services.

Protecting personal identity is vital in an era when so many American identities have been repeatedly exposed by costly data breaches. If you're ready to commit to working with a proven partner in digital privacy protection, then https://www.idx.us/contactplease reach out and speak to one of our IDX experts today.