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IT security

What is the dark web?

The dark web is the hidden part of the internet where stolen passwords and company data are traded. See how data ends up there, and how to detect it.

In short

The dark web is the part of the internet that can only be reached with special software such as the Tor browser, where both users and servers are anonymous.

It differs from the deep web, which is simply all the content search engines do not index (online banking, intranets, email accounts), and from the open web we use every day. The anonymity has legitimate uses, but it also makes the dark web a marketplace for crime: stolen passwords, credit card data, malware and access to compromised company networks are traded here.

When a service is hacked, or employees are hit by phishing, login credentials typically end up in databases that are sold and shared on the dark web, often long before the company itself discovers the leak. Dark web monitoring keeps watch on whether your domain and employee accounts appear in leaked databases, so passwords can be changed before they are abused.

MI Support IT offers dark web monitoring as part of its IT security work.

Back to the glossary

What is the dark web?

The dark web is the anonymous part of the internet: networks that require special software (typically the Tor browser), where both the visitor and the server are hidden. The technology is not illegal in itself and is also used by journalists and activists in countries with censorship. But the anonymity also makes the dark web the criminals' marketplace: stolen login credentials, card data, malware tools and ready-made access to hacked company networks are sold openly on marketplaces and forums.

Dark web, deep web and the open web

The three layers are often mixed up:

  • The open web (surface web): everything Google can find: websites, webshops, news.
  • Deep web: content behind logins or without indexing, such as your online bank, intranet, email and cloud drives. The vast majority of the internet lives here, and it is completely normal.
  • Dark web: the deliberately anonymised part that requires special tools. Only a tiny fraction of the net, but it is where leaked data is traded.

The deep web is everyday life; the dark web is the exception.

How company data ends up on the dark web

The typical route is not a Hollywood hack of your servers, but something far more mundane:

  1. Third-party breach: A service your employees signed up for with their work email gets hacked, and the password may be reused on the work account.
  2. Phishing: The employee hands over their login on a fake page.
  3. Infostealer malware: Malicious software harvests saved passwords from the browser.
  4. Ransomware with extortion: The attackers leak stolen data if no payment is made.

The information is then packaged into databases ("combo lists") that are sold and republished for years. That is why old leaks can suddenly become relevant again.

Dark web monitoring: has your domain been leaked?

Dark web monitoring continuously scans leaked databases, marketplaces and forums for your domain (for example all accounts on @yourcompany.dk) and raises the alarm when employee accounts appear in new leaks. The value lies in speed: if a leaked password is changed and MFA enforced before anyone gets to use it, the damage is averted. Monitoring does not replace prevention, but it closes the gap between leaked and discovered, which can otherwise be months. If you want to know whether your domain already appears out there, a structured security review is an obvious place to start.

How MI Support IT helps

MI Support IT offers dark web monitoring of your domain as part of a comprehensive IT security effort, together with MFA, password policies and awareness training that prevent data from ending up there in the first place. Contact us if you want to check whether your data is already in circulation.

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