The Dark Web is a part of the World Wide Web that exists on various private and secure networks which access the public Internet. The Dark Web is a part of the Internet that is not indexed by search engines. Accessing the Dark Web requires special knowledge, as well as specific software and system configuration settings to access.

Many cyber security experts from around the world believe nearly 90% of  all data located on the Internet is located within the Deep – Dark Web. The Dark Web is an area of the Internet located within the Deep Web. There are tens of thousands of hidden forums and marketplaces operating within the Dark Web. The majority of these Dark Web forums and marketplaces are used to trade in stolen documents and information, as well as  illegal items and services. The Dark Web is the place of choice for hackers and criminals to sell their illegal products and services, all while being hidden from law enforcement and government agencies. Hackers, criminals of all kinds,  and organized criminal  organizations use the Dark Web to sell  and purchase illegal products and services because the Dark Web is anonymous, payment is by Bitcoin and it is anonymous,  and all other transaction details are anonymous and secured by strong encryption.

Almost anything is for sale on the Dark Web, including drugs, guns, counterfeit currencies, passports, forged documents, even “assassin for hire”services can be found and purchased on the Dark Web. Criminals, terrorist groups and other nefarious characters use the Dark Web as a secure communication platform. They also use the Dark Web as a platform to conduct their criminal activities in an anonymous forum, with little risk of being arrested, let alone being identified by law enforcement or government agencies.

Many of these Dark Web forums and marketplaces specialize in the theft and sale of stolen intellectual property, credit cards, banking information, medical patient and healthcare information, sensitive personal and government documents, identifications and many other personal and proprietary items. These criminals trade and sell the stolen information to other hackers, who in turn use the information for whatever criminal activities they choose. Many hackers use the stolen credit cards on “carding forums” to steal money from the credit cards and bank accounts associated to the stolen information. Hundreds of thousands of individuals and companies fall victim to these types of crimes every year.  Most victims of this type of crime are not even aware this  has happened to them.

Many of the criminals who steal sensitive information such as credit cards, banking information and medical records use these items for identity theft purposes. Many unfortunate victims become victims for a second time when these criminals use the victims stolen information as a tool to blackmail or extort them.

Hackers and criminals operating within the Dark Web forums and marketplaces are extremely intelligent.  They are aware law enforcement, government agencies and companies like ours are constantly working to catch them and end this type of criminal activity.  They continually hone their skills, and constantly improve their methods and tactics. Hacker and forum members often share or sell each other the latest malware and Trojan virus technologies they develop to infiltrate computer systems and networks around the world. These criminals can drain your bank accounts and credit cards, they can access your personal and business email accounts, private and sensitive documents and photos; also and anything else they want that has an associated password and login which is accessed via a computer.

In 2015 alone, nearly 100 million healthcare medical records were stolen or otherwise compromised and sold on the Dark Web. Stolen data is one of the fastest growing sectors within the Dark Web forums. Credit card information, with all associated  personal identifying information, including full name, address and phone number, DOB, SSN and even the cards security code and associated  expiration date can be purchased on the Dark Web for $5 – $15 per card. Bank account and associated personal identifying information including login credentials can be purchased for $100 – $1,000, depending on the available balance associated with the accounts.

Cyber theft of data is an extremely profitable, and continually grown business. Experts estimate the stolen data market is valued at nearly 1 Billion dollars per year. The fact of the matter is, there is no way to put an exact finger on the real value of this type of criminal activity because these transactions are anonymous and secure.

Cyber crime and specifically data theft affects nearly every person or business in one-way or another. Businesses of all industries make up a large portion of the targets of cyber criminals. Banking, healthcare, defense companies, government agencies and critical infrastructure industries are among the biggest targets for cyber criminals.

OUR SOLUTIONS

VigilantIQ Inc. has a dedicated and fully vetted and cleared, in-house staff of government trained Intelligence Analysts that protect our client’s data and intellectual property. Our Intelligence Analysts are discreetly embedded within the various “member’s only” hacker and criminal forums and marketplaces. Each analyst embedded within these forums has earned the trust of other forum and marketplace members. Our analysts were “vetted” by the various forums as being a part of the hacker or criminal communities, or whatever online persona was needed to gain access and trust within these forums.  Most of our Intelligence Analysts have been embedded in these hacker and criminal enterprise forums and marketplaces for several years.

Most of these Dark Web criminal forums and marketplaces are operated by Non-English speaking entities.  Several of our Intelligence Analysts are native speakers or linguistic experts of various languages, including, but not limited to: Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Our analysts blend into these forums at all levels, and they are trusted within their groups. This gives our company first level access to HUMINT level intelligence, in real time.

 We  protect our clients against cyber theft and threats to their sensitive data and intellectual property. Our solutions are custom tailored to meet each  client’s specific need and operational requirements. The following is  a partial list of the services we provide to our clients.