What is Dark Web Monitoring?
Understanding what Dark Web Monitoring is can help you better protect your business. The service searches known breach data sources for domain-related information and alerts you when new exposures are found.
Dark Web Monitoring helps you identify whether information associated with your domain has appeared in known breach data. This service will continuously monitor for newly discovered exposures and alerts you when information linked to the business is found.
By seeing if your information is exposed, Dark Web Monitoring helps you stay informed about potential risks and take action before exposed data can be misused.
In this article, we will discuss:
Understanding Dark Web Monitoring
Before getting started, here is a quick look at a few common terms and how the service works.
What is the dark web?
The Dark Web is a hidden part of the internet that isn't accessible through standard web browsers or searchable through search engines like Google. It requires specialized software to access and is commonly used as a marketplace where stolen data is bought, sold, and traded.
What is a data breach?
A data breach occurs when unauthorized individuals gain access to a company's systems and obtain sensitive information. This may include usernames, passwords, email addresses, payment information, and other personal or business-related data. Stolen information from breaches may eventually appear on the dark web.
What is a threat score?
A Threat Score helps measure the potential risk associated with exposed information.
The score is based on:
- The number of breaches associated with a domain or email address
- The sensitivity of the exposed information
- The potential impact of the breach
In general, a higher Threat Score indicates a higher potential risk and may warrant immediate review of affected accounts and security settings.
What Dark Web Monitoring detects
This service monitors for:
- Email addresses
- Passwords and credentials
- Personal information
- Financial information
- Business information
- Breach events associated with a domain
Benefits of Dark Web Monitoring
Dark Web Monitoring helps you:
- Discover exposed information associated with your domain.
- Stay informed about newly discovered breaches.
- Better understand potential security risks.
- Take action on affected accounts.
- Monitor for future exposure.
Manage Dark Web Monitoring
After purchasing Dark Web Monitoring, you can access your monitoring dashboard through your Network Solutions account manager.
How to access your Dark Web Monitoring
- Log in to your account via https://www.networksolutions.com/my-account/login.
- Click the Security tab.
- You can either click the Dark Web Monitoring tab or click Manage beside the Dark Web Monitoring service under the Security product list.
- Select the domain you want to monitor, then click Manage.
The Dark Web Monitoring dashboard for the selected domain will be displayed.
Dark Web Monitoring dashboard overview
The Dark Web Monitoring dashboard gives you visibility into potential exposure associated with your monitored domains and email addresses. From the dashboard, you'll find:
Breach events
The breach events section provides a summary of how many breach events have been identified. A breach event occurs when information associated with your domain or email address appears in known breach data sources.
Threat score
The threat score provides an overall risk rating based on the number of breaches identified and the sensitivity of the exposed information. The score ranges from 0 to 100.
Threat radar
The threat radar provides an overview of monitored assets and signals detected by the platform.
- Signals monitored - represents the vast amount of breach and threat intelligence data that Dark Web Monitoring continuously analyzes to identify potential exposure.
- Sites - displays the number of domains being monitored.
- Emails - displays the number of monitored email addresses.
Impacted data
The impacted data section provides a breakdown of the types of information identified in breach events. It also highlights the data category with the highest number of exposure records and explains the potential risks associated with that type of information.
Common impacted data categories:
- Email addresses
- Passwords
- Names
- Usernames
- IP addresses
The dashboard also displays the number of records identified for each category.
View all impacted data
Select View All to review all impacted data discovered through monitoring. The View All page includes additional filters that allow you to focus on specific types of exposure.
Available filters:
- Email addresses
- Passwords
- Names
- Usernames
- IP addresses
- Phone numbers
- Physical addresses
- Dates of birth
- Geographic locations
- Genders
These filters can help you quickly find and review the information most relevant to your investigation.
Understanding your monitoring results
What does it mean if exposure is found?
If Dark Web Monitoring identifies exposure associated with your domain or email address, it means information linked to you has appeared in one or more known data breaches.
This doesn't necessarily mean your website was hacked. In many cases, exposure may come from a third-party service where a business email address was used.
To help reduce risk, consider:
- Changing passwords
- Replacing reused credentials
- Enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Reviewing account activity for suspicious activity
Review exposure details
If exposure is identified:
- Click on the breach event.
- Choose either SITES or EMAILS, depending on the type of exposure detected.
- Review the exposed domain or email address.
- Complete the recommended actions and select the corresponding checkbox for each task. The estimated risk score goes down as recommended actions are marked.
- Once all recommended actions have been completed, click MARK AS RESOLVED.
If no exposure found
A clean result means no known exposure associated with your domain was identified during the scan.
Because new breach information is continuously discovered, ongoing monitoring helps ensure you'll be alerted if new exposure is identified in the future.
Monitor for new exposure
Dark Web Monitoring continuously monitors for newly discovered exposure associated with your domain. When new exposure is detected, you'll receive an alert so you can review the findings and take action.
Frequently asked questions
Does exposure mean my website was hacked?
Not necessarily. Exposure may originate from a third-party service where your email address or other information was included in a data breach.
Can Dark Web Monitoring remove exposed information?
No. Dark Web Monitoring identifies and reports exposure but does not remove information from breach sources.
Why should I continue monitoring if no exposure was found?
A clean result only reflects information known at the time of the scan. Monitoring helps identify newly discovered exposure in the future.
What should I do if exposure is found?
Review the exposure details, update affected credentials, enable MFA where possible, and monitor impacted accounts for suspicious activity.
Does Dark Web Monitoring show my exposed information?
No. Dark Web Monitoring does not display sensitive personal information such as
- Full passwords
- Credit card numbers
- Government-issued IDs
- Complete personal records
Instead, the service focuses on identifying exposure and providing enough information to understand the risk while helping protect your privacy.
Review
With Dark Web Monitoring, you can check for exposed information linked to your domain and receive alerts when new exposure is found. This article covers the service's features, benefits, and how to manage it through your account.
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