With the number of small businesses that have to close their doors every year, it’s a positive sign when small business owners are taking proactive steps regarding their cybersecurity. While malware and ransomware get all of the headlines, the dark web poses a constant threat that’s difficult to safeguard against. Using dark web monitoring tools is a basic requirement every business owner should have. It’s not going to completely prevent your information from ending up on a dark web forum, but it can quickly identify it when it does so proactive measures can be taken to prevent unauthorized use. Safeguarding your business from the dark web can protect it in more ways than one.
Understand The Damage The Dark Web Can Do
Business owners often don’t take the first step in developing a proactive IT management strategy until they gain a full understanding of exactly how the dark web can be used against them. Simply put, cybercriminals use bots and other sophisticated tools to steal login credentials, financial information, sensitive records and other information without the account owner even suspecting anything. The stolen information then gets advertised for sale on the dark web and can be purchased by other cybercriminals. Usually, by the time your information is detected on the dark web, it has already been used or sold multiple times.
Dark Web Monitoring Protects Small Businesses
One of the best ways to safeguard your business is to use dark web monitoring tools. Ask your managed security service provider if they offer this service and take advantage of it if they do. These tools may include scanners to search through the dark web 24/7 and detect any of your confidential information. They will then alert you and work with you to change passwords and ensure the information does not get used maliciously in the future. You have to assume the information has been used to some extent, so that’s where having a proactive IT management strategy enters the picture. It will continue monitoring and take the necessary steps to recover any lost data.
Work Collectively To Safeguard Your Company
While you should be able to rely on your managed security service provider for all things security-related, you have to work collectively to protect your data from cybercriminals. This includes educating your employees on the best cybersecurity practices, what the dark web is and how it can impact them on a personal level. Cybercriminals are highly sophisticated and intelligent, so you can never use too many tools and resources to defend against them. When it comes to your confidential company information, you can never be too safe.
At Single Point of Contact, we help companies develop a proactive IT management strategy tailored to their organization. While the dark web may not pose a direct threat to a company, it could cause irreparable damage to your reputation in the eyes of current and future customers. Cybercriminals have only scratched the surface regarding how they utilize the dark web today, so contact us to see how we can help safeguard your company from it.
