By News Desk
A recent report by Searchlight Cyber has found that many Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) are concerned about threats coming from the dark web, but are not taking sufficient action to address them. The dark web intelligence company surveyed over a thousand CISOs working in large enterprises and discovered that 93 per cent were worried about dark web threats, and 72 per cent believed that intelligence on cybercriminals is critical in protecting their organization’s endpoints and data from hackers. However, despite gathering intelligence on these groups, their tools, networking, MOs, and similar, they are not doing much about it.
The researchers claim that 71 per cent of CISOs would like to know if their suppliers are being targeted on the dark web. However, only a third (32%) of those gathering intelligence from the dark web are using it to look for attacks on their supply chain. For Ben Jones, CEO and co-founder of Searchlight Cyber, businesses have a lot of work ahead, but it just might pay off: “What is significant is the clear pattern that emerges between gathering more threat intelligence and data from the dark web, and a better security posture,” he said. “For the UK enterprises that haven’t identified the opportunity of dark web intelligence, the results make it crystal clear: gathering dark web intelligence will help them gain a better understanding of their adversaries and increase their chances of spotting an attack.”
The researchers found that businesses in different industries respond differently to threats coming from the dark web. The majority of those in the finance industry (85%) already gather data from the dark web, while the healthcare industry lags behind with 57 per cent. The oil and gas industry could also do better, as just two-thirds (66%) of CISOs say they harvest data from the dark web. As a result, CISOs are not as confident about stopping cyberattacks as they could be. Just 60 per cent of healthcare CISOs and 74 per cent of those in the oil and gas industry believe they understand the profile of their adversaries properly, which is way below the industry standard of 77 per cent.
Jones concludes that it is “an imperative for these organizations to begin monitoring the dark web, to spot the early warning signs of attack, and improve their security posture based on a better understanding of their adversaries.” Therefore, businesses must take action to address the threats coming from the dark web. They need to gather more intelligence on cybercriminals, their tools, networking, MOs, and similar. By doing so, they can gain a better understanding of their adversaries and increase their chances of spotting an attack. This will help them to improve their security posture and protect their organization’s endpoints and data from hackers.
