Technology

How important is your data to you? As a business owner, what would it mean to your business should your supplier or client’s data be for sale on the Dark Web?

Let’s talk a bit about the Dark Web

The first time you heard “Dark Web,” what was your perspective? You may simply imagine it as a shady web; you’re right, but trust me, it’s wider than you may have thought. For example, in July 2019 alone, over 150 million Capital One credit card applications and accounts were compromised in a cyberattack which left the user’s vital information vulnerable and exposed to the dark web. What does that tell you? To hit the nail on the head, your business and employee information may be exposed or sold on the Dark Web without your consent.

What is the Dark Web?

As the name implies, it’s the compilation of all hidden sites which are inaccessible through the regular or main search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, AOL, Ask.com, Excite, DuckDuckGo, etc). In more explanatory terms, this part of the web is a tiny section of the internet that people use to stay hidden from the public. To operate on the dark web (encrypted network) requires some distinct software and authorisation which makes it almost impossible for a tech novice. The main benefit the dark web provides is anonymity which is why many users trying to cover their tracks adopt the platform.

Most often, users are majorly cybercriminals, drug dealers, human traffickers, terrorists, whistleblowers, and people willing to hide their data from anyone.

The US Naval Research Laboratory was the pioneer of a program and the aim was to enable government secret agents to transmit classified information without been exposed. But little did they know that criminals and others would find out the clues and use the program in carrying out their unlawful activities while remaining anonymous.

Should I be bothered?

Yes! Remember that the Dark Web houses so much of data stolen in several cyber attacks such as Operation Shady RAT, World of Hell, Red October, WannaCry Ransome attack, and many more. And this data is later traded to criminals who have other destructive motives.

How will I verify my credentials are in the Dark Web?

Dark Web monitoring tool is a means to ascertain if your business or employee credentials are saved or accessible on the Dark web.

For personal use, one site “Have I been Pwned” (www.haveibeenpwned.com) is a specific tool that enable users to input their private mail address to see if it has been compromised by any form. If you’re wondering if your password has been compromised, use Google’s Password Check-up to find out. Apart from disclosing the result, it can also check if your password may be susceptible to future attacks because the password is weak.

For Business use, Timeless IMS have a comprehensive tool which can give your business live visibility on whether your business has been compromised.

What is Dark Web monitoring?

Simply, Timeless IMS technology has the means of checking the dark web for contents, credentials, or pieces of vital information associated with your business, personal life, or employees on the Dark Web. These varieties of data include social security numbers, debit or credit card numbers, passports, medical records, or complete information of the user which includes birthdate and account numbers.

Dark Web Monitoring runs regardless of your IT infrastructure status, its core is designed to connect to different Dark Web network (botnets, black market sites, forums, private networks, malicious page, chat room, blogs, etc) scanning for compromised information which is related your business or employee. As you might have thought, it isn’t an easy task; it takes several hours of searching and exploring. If a piece of compromised information is found in the end, it makes provision for the recovery.

How can we help?

The Timeless IMS Dark Web Monitoring service is an advanced system designed to help you identify and counterattack any form of cyber invasion on your adored information (emails, passwords, etc). Our IT Support integrated human and updated artificial threat intelligence to make our services outstanding, which is why it continuously monitors the Dark Web in real-time.

Chamber Patron, Timeless IMS has what it takes when it comes to full-time protection (All-yearround). Immediately something smells fishy, we alert you and recommend a way out as well as things to put in place to avoid the same scenario in the future. We hope you enjoyed reading this article and should you want to know more, please review other articles on our website

A quick reference link is provided here:

https://bit.ly/2PIGKun

Timeless IMS use a unique consultative approach to providing businesses with the right set of technology tools to grow. Email us at help@timelessims.co.uk or call us on 0800 3282852.

Kickstart in Feltham!

New Chamber member, Identity Destruction Ltd…home of the ‘SHREDINATORS’ based in Chichester, West Sussex has boldly embarked on a new business venture in no other than Feltham! The family run business, established in 2016 provides a confidential paper and hard drive shredding service, collecting from homes and offices all across London and the South.

The new Shred-as-you- wait facility for Identity Destruction in Feltham is located at Unit 13 on the Maple Industrial Estate TW13 7AW and provides a truly secure and remarkable experience for both householders and businesses alike!

Customers are able to bring their confidential wastepaper and hard drives into the new shredding branch and actually watch it all being shredded right in front of their eyes! There’s a Covid safe reception area where paper is weighed on digital scales and then cross shredded in full view within ‘SHREDTOP’ the paper Shredinator!

Hard drives within PC towers and laptops are carefully removed in front of the customer and then shredded in ‘DATA’ the hard drive Shredinator! The hard drives are shredded into tiny shards of metal which annihilates all held digital data, 100% eliminating the risk of identity theft.

Identity Destruction’s Founder Johny Cauchi spoke to ‘let’s talk business’ saying, ‘With identity theft on the rise we are delighted at the opening of our new Feltham shred as you wait branch to protect householders and businesses across London. We are excited also to have signed up to the Government ‘Kickstart Scheme’ to employ a couple of young people to work at our new London based shredding branch to help the local community employ young people and get them trained and back into the workplace’.

For more information on the Identity Destruction Feltham shred as you wait branch go to www.identitydestruction.co.uk/feltham or contact them on info@identitydestruction. co.uk or call on 020 3150 1124.