Welcome to the last installment in our series “Cut Through the Noise: How to Actually Secure Your Small or mid-sized business from threats with minimal investment.” In this part, we discuss how to monitor your accounts, emails, and business reputation against the dark web in the chance that your information is compromised.
Have You Been Pwned?
Every small or mid-sized business should be aware of the potential risks to their business and personal accounts from data breaches. If you have been following along in this entire series, we have shown you how to protect your information. But what about your vendors, especially the big cloud providers? How will you know if they have been breached and your account info was stolen? That is where https://HaveIBeenPwned.com comes in.
With 160,000+ visitors every day, three million email subscribers, and details of more than 9 billion compromised accounts, it is, by far, the biggest and most popular way to find out if your password has been stolen.
Forbes 2019
What is HaveIBeenPwned?
First, let’s get this out of the way; It’s pronounced like owned but with a P in front of it. Phonetically: poʊnd.
HaveIBeenPwned.com is a website developed by Troy Hunt, a Microsoft MVP that stores a collection of compromised data that has been obtained from different sources, such as stolen account credentials. The site allows you to check if your personal information, such as email addresses, usernames, or domains, has been exposed to a breach. You can enter your details in the search bar, and the website will scan its database to find any matches. If there is a match, the site will provide details of the breach, including the name of the compromised website or service, the type of data that was exposed, and the date of the breach.
Why Should Small and Mid-Sized Business Owners Use HaveIBeenPwned?
As stated earlier, throughout this series, we have guided you on building a great defense to secure your business against hackers and malicious actors. But defense is only half of the game. Building up a great offense or proactive defense with security training, phishing simulations, and monitoring are the icing on the security cake.
As discussed earlier in this series, any data breach can have devastating consequences for your business, including financial losses, reputational damage, and legal repercussions. Using HaveIBeenPwned, you can quickly and easily check whether your business and personal accounts have been compromised in a data breach and take appropriate action to mitigate the risks. Very much like when your credit card becomes compromised, and the company calls you to let you know.
Other Dark Web Monitoring and Scanning Tools to Consider
HaveIBeenPwned is an amazing resource, but it isn’t the only game in town. There are many other dark web monitoring and scanning tools that you can use to help protect your business and personal accounts. These tools can help notify you of any suspicious activity on your accounts and provide additional layers of security.
Here are some of the tools to consider:
Dark Web ID / ID Agent
Dark Web ID / ID Agent is a dark web monitoring platform that scans the dark web for stolen credentials, alerts users if their information is found, and helps businesses of all sizes protect their employees, customers, and brand from cyber threats.
Norton 360 with LifeLock
Norton 360 with LifeLock is a comprehensive security solution that includes dark web monitoring, identity theft protection, and device security.
Experian IdentityWorks
Experian IdentityWorks is an identity theft protection service that includes dark web monitoring, credit monitoring, and identity restoration services.
Using these dark web monitoring and scanning tools combined with HaveIBeenPwned, you can take proactive steps to protect your sensitive information from cyber threats.
The More, The Merrier
Once you have gone through the process and understand how to set these services up for you and your business accounts, get your employees in on the effort. For some smaller companies, as a business perk, offer a discount or offer to cover the services for your employees. Sometimes there may even be plans for small businesses with company memberships.
Epilogue
As you can see, there are some great benefits to dark web monitoring services, as mentioned here. We hope this blog post gave you some insight into how dark web monitoring and scanning can help you with your business. While there is a plethora of information here, there can be much more to consider when implementing the strategies mentioned in this article. As each business is unique, so are its security needs and, more importantly, its risks.
How StrataNorth Can help.
If you are ready to transform your business’s security landscape and are looking for experts to guide you, StrataNorth has security consultants with decades of experience. We can help you reach security nirvana and give you a roadmap for success. Reach out for a no-cost, no-obligation chat with a security expert today.