What Is Dark Web Scanning?
Each year, 9 million Americans have their identity stolen.
If you suspect that you were one of those Americans, you should do some dark web scanning.
But what is it and how do you run one? And what happens if you do find your information on the dark web? Keep reading to find out!
What Is the Dark Web?
The dark web is just a portion of the deep web, and the pages on the dark web don’t appear in your typical search result.
In the deep web, there is also a dark web. To get there, you’ll have to have special software to get through to the internet. This acts like a normal browser, but it will route your traffic through an encrypted network where your data is anonymous and private.
The dark web was originally created for privacy, but with privacy also comes room for illegal activity like stealing people’s identities and information. In some cases, they’ll even sell your information.
How Does a Dark Web Scan Work?
A dark web scan will go over different pieces of data on the dark web and search for your stolen personal information. The scan will then let you know what information of yours they found and what pieces of information were found.
The scan should also give you more information to help you reduce the damage or try and protect your information even more.
However, the dark web scan might not find anything else. There’s no way anyone can search the entire dark web. However, even finding one breach can help alert you to tighten your security.
To find someone to help you do a scan or tighten your security, click here to find out more.
How Does Information End Up On Dark Web?
So if you run a dark web scan and then find your information, how did it get there? You might find your email, credit card number, social security numbers, CCV codes, addresses, or other personal information.
Someone could get your information by sending a phishing email, hacking your accounts, or breaching a company’s information that stores your personal information.
Once the hackers get the information they need, they’ll post it for sale on the dark web.
Dark Web Scans Benefit
The benefits of scanning the dark web mean that you’ll be aware of if your information is out there.
This could mean that you save yourself grief, money, and time by catching it early. If you don’t catch it and people take your information and use it, your entire life could be ruined. They could take out loans and put you thousands of dollars in debt.
When to Run a Scan
You should always run regular scans to make sure that your information wasn’t stolen and posted n the dark web. However, you should also run a scan if you know that you’ve been affected by a data breach.
For example, in 2013, Adobe was hacked and lost access to millions of usernames and passwords. Capital One was also hacked in 2019, and they lost valuable information that ended up on the dark web as well.
As technology becomes more prevalent, data breaches are growing more and more common. If you hear that a company you have an account with was breached, make sure you change your passwords and run a scan immediately.
Steps to Take
If you find your information on the dark web, the first thing you need to do is change your password. It’s important to do this as soon as possible so that no one else can use that information against you.
You should change your password every time you find out that your personal information was exposed. You should never use the same password for a few different sites. They should always be new and difficult to guess.
Never write your passwords down anywhere and use a secure password manager.
Next, you’ll also want to freeze your credit. If you think that someone stole your identity, you can freeze your credit which will prevent anyone from opening any new accounts.
They also won’t be able to use your personal information to take out any loans and put you into debt.
It’s free to freeze your credit, but make sure that you do it through all three credit bureaus. Those are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
You should then talk to your current financial institutions and service providers. You might need to cancel the current account and open a new one to ensure that your information stays safe.
Once you’ve talked with your financial institutions, you should always monitor your credit card statements. Keep an eye out for any purchases you didn’t make or that look suspicious. Even if it was for something small, you want to catch it early so that they can’t make any larger purchases.
Fill out a fraud report as soon as possible. You have to report any suspicious purchases within sixty days in order to have that money refunded to your account.
Discover More About Dark Web Scanning
These are only a few things to know about dark web scanning and the benefits it can have, but there are many more things to keep in mind.
We know that having your identity stolen can be stressful, but there are steps you can take to get your identity back and prevent it from happening in the future.
Are you looking for more information on the dark web? Check out our website to find more articles just like this one!
Author
About Author
