A study reveals a strong link between dark web exposure and increased cyber security violations, urging organizations to strengthen their protective measures.
A recent study conducted by Searchlight Cyber in collaboration with the Marsh McLenn Cyber Risk Intelligence Center has detected a connection between exposure and risks of cyber security violations on the dark web. The analysis, which searches over 9,000 outfits, indicates that organizations with any form of dark web exposure are significantly more likely to experience cyber attack, especially if they lack sufficient protective measures.
Research highlights some mentioning data: The presence of compromised user accounts increases the possibility of a violation up to 2.56 times, while the dark web market listing increases this risk by 2.41 times. Additionally, outgoing dark web traffic is correlated with a risk of 2.11 times. Widely, the study found that organizations coming in contact with many dark web sources experienced 77% more likely to suffer cyber security violations than those without such exposure.
In a period of four years from 2020 to 2023, the breech rate for organizations with any dark web exposure was noted at 3.7%. The study not only evaluated compromised accounts and market listings, but also assessed other factors such as Open-SOS Intelligence (OSINT) results and paste site leaks, both today contributed significantly to risk organizations.
Experts recommend an active approach to organizations to reduce these risks by implementing strong dark web monitoring practices and increasing cyber security measures. Using multi-factor authentication, implementing strong password policies, and providing regular cyber security training for employees are suggested practices to help all the suggested practices to help curb the risk of compromised accounts generated from dark web exposure.
Searchlight Cyber co-founder and CEO Ben Jones insisted, “If the security teams can identify their exposure on the dark web, they have a big opportunity to continuously work and stop attacks before being launched by a cyber criminal.” As the scenario of cyber security is developing, understanding and addressing dark web weaknesses will be important for organizations for the purpose of protecting their data and operations.
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