Digital Risk Protection – reputational and data-based risks on the rise

Digital Risk Protection – reputational and data-based risks on the rise

Author:
John Bridge
Cybersecurity Consultant, JT Enterprise

As businesses have transitioned into alternative methods of working, they have faced one of the worst years ever seen for cyber-attacks.

This threat has affected many companies including huge entities such as: Microsoft, Google, SolarWinds and NASA which have become victims of serious data breaches. Capitalising on these attacks, perpetrators have sold this data, but there is a growing number of instances where data has been made available for free on the dark web and ‘dump sites’ on the clear web (the ‘surface web’ – commonly accessed publicly indexed pages we all use day to day).

This presents a risk that your personal and corporate data has already been made available without your knowledge. While you may follow all of the best practices in securing your data within your network, it remains at risk – data breaches often originate from third parties or other companies involved in the supply chain.

It is now imperative that businesses run third-party risk assessments on their supply chain, as well as monitoring the deep, dark and clear web for their data.

 What is the dark web?

The dark web refers to the non-indexed area of the Internet which does not appear in search engine results and can only be accessed by certain web browsers.

While the dark web is infamous for its link to illicit material and services, a lot of these offerings are often fraudulent, and a large number of marketplaces are heavily monitored by law enforcement agencies from around the globe.

Despite this, many legitimate dark web marketplaces still exist, often using escrow services and invite-only with reputation-based rating systems in order to ‘ensure’ legitimacy in the proposed transactions. As we often see in TV shows and movies, the dark web contains nearly anything imaginable for purchase. On these marketplaces, buyers could obtain a wide range of illicit goods, ranging from Malware as a Service, stolen bank account details, forged passports plus so much more.

How can accessing the dark web help your business?

JT’s analysts are seeing an increasing amount of leaked data appearing in data dumps that concern Channel Islands-based people and businesses. Due to the Channel Islands’ unique position and reputation, the potential targeting of high-profile and high-net-worth individuals and businesses suggests that the amount of leaked data will only continue to rise.

The most successful strategies we observe have clear requirements, such as early fraud detection, threat monitoring, and finding exposed credentials.

What steps can you take to protect your business?

These sources are vast and locating and accessing them, or even having the capabilities to access them ‘in-house’ can be a real challenge.

In order to protect your business, JT’s Cyber Consulting and Risk Advisory team can offer cyber assessments of your company, as well as third-party risk assessments to identify potential risks throughout your supply chain. On top of this, the team also offers a Digital Risk Protection service that constantly monitors for data breaches that appear on both the dark and clear web.

If you would like to learn more about JT’s bespoke Digital Risk Protection service, or any other business services, please contact one of JT’s friendly Enterprise team today to review your business needs.

Contact the team today >