Dark web cyber security monitoring

The challenge of dark web cyber security monitoring

The dark web can be an invaluable source of intelligence for analysts seeking to better understand the threats against their organization. As the epicenter of cybercrime, intel extracted from the dark web can provide critical insight into the tools, tactics and procedures discussed and transacted between threat actors, the vulnerabilities they’re planning to exploit and the strategies they’re employing to evade current cybersecurity practices and programs.

While dark web cyber security monitoring is understood to be a critical component of any organization’s security strategy, finding intelligence on the dark web and deriving a complete picture of the cyber threat landscape is a highly challenging task. It requires a thorough understanding of the dark web’s complex ecosystem, arduous processes of infiltrating and maintaining access to heavily-guarded sources, and expertise in extracting intelligence and investigating threats. These challenges are significant and resource exhaustive. As a result, more and more organizations today are turning to automated dark web cyber security solutions from Cybersixgill.

What dark web cyber security investigations can reveal

The dark web is a part of the internet that can’t be accessed by standard internet browsers. Because it’s designed for privacy and anonymity, the dark web is unindexed, unsearchable, and not easily navigable – there are no directories telling investigators where to go to find information, nor can its content be found through search engines. Consequently, it’s an ideal place for cybercriminals to go when they want to discuss, buy, sell or share the services, data and tools they use in cyberattacks. Underground forums on the dark web are the primary platform for threat actors’ discussions about the latest tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) they’re using and the unwitting victims they plan to target in an attack. 

Because the dark web is such a rich source of information, sophisticated dark web cyber security investigations can reveal a great deal of critical threat intelligence.

• Vulnerabilities. Cybercriminals can exploit weaknesses or flaws in software to gain unauthorized access to accounts or IT systems. Threat actors will often discuss the most recently discovered vulnerabilities on underground forums, or they may share proof-of-concept or exploit kits on code repositories. This information can help teams to prioritize their patching cadence to address the most pressing vulnerabilities first.

• Exposed credentials. Compromised credentials accessed through techniques such as social engineering, brute-force, and infostealer botnets – enable cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to logged-in accounts and networks, and often provide threat actors with their first foothold into enterprise systems. Monitoring this information – which is often for sale on dark web marketplaces – can help security teams understand what types of risks their users and organizations may face.

• Data leaks. In the wake of a cyberattack, a great deal of personal information like credit cards, Social Security numbers, and other sensitive data may be stolen and sold on the dark web or discussed in underground forums. Dark web cyber security analysts can use this information to better understand what types of attacks and TTPs have been successful so they can make plans to mitigate them.

• Tools of the trade. Attackers often share or sell tools and services for cyberattacks on the dark web. These include phishing kits, tools for ransomware attacks, and other types of malware and tools that can be used to successfully launch attacks. By understanding and analyzing these tools, dark web cyber security specialists can better prepare their organization’s defenses against them.

Dark web security monitoring with Cybersixgill 

Cybersixgill’s threat intelligence solutions protect your organization against malicious cyberattacks before they materialize. We accomplish this by capturing, processing and alerting your teams to emerging threats, TTPs and indicators of compromise (IOCs) as they surface on the clear, deep and dark web.

Cybersixgill’s technology offers the most extensive, fully automated, intelligence collection available from the deep and dark web, including 10 times more dark web sources than any other solution. Our automated collection methods covertly extract data from limited-access and deep and dark web forums and markets, code repositories, paste sites, invite-only messaging groups and clear web platforms, taking advantage of our ability to scrape data that is inaccessible to other vendors.

To provide superior dark web cyber security, we index, correlate, analyze, tag and filter raw data, enriching each bit of intelligence with context that delivers essential insights about the nature, source and evolution of each threat.

Dark web cyber security solutions on our platform include:

• API Integration. Cybersixgill’s vast collection of cyber threat intelligence data can also be consumed, via an application programming interface (API) that integrates directly into existing workflows and system architectures to address multiple use cases & functionalities. The API offering supports database queries and query-based notifications, actionable alerts tailored to your organizational assets, automated feed of malicious IOCs, detection of leaked user credentials, real-time feed of CVE-related events and developments, multi-tenant (MSSP) configurations and more. A new integration per customer request can be created within a week.

• Investigative Portal. The Cybersixgill Investigative Portal delivers real-time context and actionable alerts as well as the ability to conduct covert investigations into the deep and dark web. With the Investigative Portal, security teams can deep-dive into any escalation to understand context, or research a threat actor’s profile, motives and history.

• DVE Intelligence. Cybersixgill’s Dynamic Vulnerability Exploit (DVE) Intelligence is an end-to-end solution that spans the entire lifecycle of common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) to streamline vulnerability analysis, prioritization, management, and remediation. DVE scores accurately predict the likelihood that a vulnerability will be exploited by attackers in the next 90 days. This solution offers a more effective way to evaluate vulnerabilities and prioritize remediation than traditional metrics which only evaluate vulnerabilities based on severity.

Benefits of dark web cyber security monitoring with Cybersixgill

Mitigate malware threats earlier

By monitoring activity on the dark web, Cybersixgill threat intelligence feeds can detect new malware when it is initially offered for sale on the dark web. By extracting the malware hash and blocking it on firewalls or by triggering playbooks or SIEM, SOAR, or VM platforms, you can mitigate the threat before attackers have even downloaded.

Leverage real-time intelligence

Our automated, real-time threat collection capabilities continuously scour underground sources for emerging threats, extracting intelligence and delivering it to our customers 24x faster than our competitors. 

Make context-informed decisions 

We provide contextual data and match it with automated actionable workflows, playbooks, prioritization and remediation processes, enabling your security teams and administrators to make more informed security decisions based on a complete understanding of the threat landscape.

Automate dark web cyber security programs

To keep pace with the speed of innovation in cyber attacks, Cybersixgill automates intel collection and threat feeds to provide advance warnings about new cyber threats the moment they are first detected.

Monitor threat actors’ intent

Use real-time visibility and understanding of the interests and intentions of threat actors to prioritize vulnerability remediation and cybersecurity investments.

Why choose Cybersixgill?

Cybersixgill was founded with a single mission in mind: to equip organizations with the insights they need to defend against cyber attacks before they materialize. With the broadest threat intelligence collection capabilities in the industry, Cybersixgill solutions autonomously extract, process and index intelligence at scale, ingesting tens of millions of intelligence items per day from the clear, deep and dark web to ensure that our threat intelligence is relevant, up-to-date and accurate.

With Cybersixgill, organizations and their security teams can:

• Expose threat activity in any language, format or platform, using automated crawlers to infiltrate and maintain access to limited-access sources on the deep and dark web.

• Preempt and block threats as they emerge, before they can be weaponized in a cyberattack.

• Seamlessly integrate threat intelligence into security solutions and security operations centers, relying on Cybersixgill’s integration partners and API endpoints for a broad range of use cases.

FAQs

What is the dark web?

The dark web is a portion of the internet that is not accessible to search engines or the general public. Sites on the dark web can only be accessed through a special browser and URLs are not published in any directories. The privacy and anonymity afforded by the dark web makes it an attractive place for cybercriminals to discuss plans, acquire tools, share information and buy and sell data that can be used in cybercrime.

What is dark web cyber security monitoring?

Dark web monitoring is the practice of covertly tracking activity on the dark web to uncover the intentions, plans, tools and techniques that hackers may use in carrying out cyberattacks. This intelligence allows security teams to develop more effective defenses against a wide range of threats.

What is the deep web vs. dark web?

Like the surface web, deep web content can be accessed by standard internet browsers and applications, however, it is not indexed or visible to search engines. Unlike clear web content which is viewable to all, deep web content is access-restricted, requiring some form of authorisation or permission to access, protected by login credentials, paywalls, or otherwise. We all access and use the deep web everyday. Examples include private emails, social media dms, private banking or financial information, medical records and academic databases.

The remaining 6% of the internet is hidden within the dark underbelly of the internet - the dark web. The dark web is intentionally hidden, an encrypted ecosystem of overlay networks (darknets) that exist on top of our internet infrastructure, but are separate from the World Wide Web. The dark web is unindexed, unregulated, and cannot be accessed by standard internet browsers. Its sites are not “web” sites, but “onion” sites - with cryptographic domain names compromising a randomised string of letters and numbers ending in the .onion suffix. Accordingly, the dark web can only be accessed by specialized software - the most common of which is TOR, The Onion Router, which encrypts, reroutes and anonymizes web traffic to mask users' IP addresses, rendering their online activities untraceable. The promise of anonymity and privacy on the dark web has made it a haven for hackers, extremists and criminals alike, giving rise to a thriving underground black-market economy.