Welcome to our new subscribers who we met at this week’s ILA conference!
What exactly is the dark web?
The internet is comprised of layers. The surface web, or what we most likely think of when we imagine “the internet,” is only the tip of the iceberg. Beyond that, lies what is called the “deep web,” and beyond that, the “dark web.”
Surface Web:
- Publicly accessible websites indexed by search engines
- Examples: news sites, social media, online shops
Deep Web:
- Content not indexed by standard search engines
- Requires specific access or credentials
- Much larger than the surface web
- Examples: academic databases, medical records, private social media content
Dark Web:
- A small portion of the deep web that requires a special browser like Tor to access
- Intentionally hidden and anonymous
- Contains both legitimate and illegal activities
- Examples: whistleblowing platforms, illegal marketplaces
The Dark Web and You
Even if you don’t access the dark web, you can feel its affects. Most modern identity theft happens through dark web marketplaces, and it’s likely that you have passwords and logins in “combolists” for sale by hackers.
What’s there to do about it?
It’s nearly impossible to avoid EVERY website data breach, but take steps to mitigate the damage.
Check periodically for dark web password breaches. We offer free dark web reports with information about compromised accounts—just reach out here and we will send you a custom report.
Use different passwords for each website. List buyers will run credentials through most common websites to check for repeat passwords—and exploit what they find there.
In the News: Internet Archive Hacked
Yesterday, the Internet Archive/The Wayback Machine, which stores screen captures of sites through the years, was hacked. Side note: normally, I read about hacks in the news. This time, I found out when I tried to find an old restaurant review referenced in an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. The hacker posted a JavaScript message to visitors reading, “Have you ever felt like the Internet Archive runs on sticks and is constantly on the verge of suffering a catastrophic security breach? It just happened. See 31 million of you on HIBP!” (Have I Been Pwned is free data breach notification service).
The stolen passwords are encrypted, but can be referenced against previous uses of the same password. If you’re reusing passwords, time to switch it up. At this time, the hackers still have control of the site.