Many of us immediately associate ‘The Dark Web’ with criminal behaviour due to its reputation for suspicious activity and illegal content.
From fake passports to stolen data, rumours continue to swirl online about what can truly be accessed on this mysterious area of the internet.
Although the vast majority of people would never intend on visiting the site, for some the dark web is more than just a curiosity; it is something they want to experience for themselves.
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Now, a new survey has discovered that Ireland is the third most interested country in The Dark Web behind Croatia in first place and the Czech Republic in second.
Reboot SEO Company used the online analytics tools Ahrefs to discover the amount of searches for each country across the US, UK and Europe to determine the interest in The Dark Web.
Ireland had an interest score of 91.2 out of 100. So far this year, there have been 38,360 online searches here for The Dark Web, equating to 953 searches for every 100,000 internet users.
The Dark Web - which was originally used by the United States Department of Defence to communicate anonymously - has now become a hub for users wishing to remain anonymous around the world.
People use the Dark Web for both legal and illegal purposes - these include buying and selling of illegal drugs, weapons, passports and stolen identities as well as the trading of illegal pornography and other potentially harmful materials.
It has been reported that 2.5 million users access 'underground' sites every day.
The Dark Web came to the fore last year here after our health service was targeted by a criminal attack.
The aim of this attack was to disrupt our health services and computer systems, illegally access and copy information, and demand a ransom for its return.
The Government and the HSE confirmed then that as a result of the ransomware cyberattack, sensitive patient data stolen by cybercriminals was likely to appear on The Dark Web.
However, only a small amount of HSE data appeared on The Dark Web and this was later removed.
Also last year, a number of people were prosecuted for using The Dark Web for illegal purposes.
In one case, the FBI contacted gardai in West Cork about a person accessing a dark web site related to the exploitation of children. The accused was given a two year suspended jail sentence. In another case, a college student admitted importing more than €4,000 worth of cannabis from the United States after purchasing it online using The Dark Web.
In a bid to protect yourself from The Dark Web and keep your data safe, experts at Reboot SEO Company have a number of tips.
- Use a VPN - A VPN can protect your online activity from corporations, governments, and other prying eyes. By connecting to an external server and adopting its IP address, you can appear to be in the same country as the server you are using. Although a VPN doesn’t make your online activities impossible to track, having that extra layer of protection gives you the best chance of keeping your data safe.
- Use a free dark web scan - If you suspect that one of your accounts, whether personal, email, or bank, has been compromised, one of the first things you should do is run a free dark web scan. A dark web scan will search the dark web for your personal information among all stolen data lists. A web scan will not reveal the entire amount of stolen information on the dark web, but it will notify you immediately if any of your information is discovered.
- Use a password manager - Another way to give yourself the best possible chance of protecting your personal information is to change your passwords and use a password manager. Your passwords for online accounts should all be different, strong, and one-of-a-kind.
- Enable two factor authentication - One of the best ways you can try to protect your online accounts from the dark web is to use two-factor authentication. A second authentication step makes it much more difficult for a hacker to gain access to your accounts because it combines two factors as a way of confirming authorisation, either your username or password and then your phone number or possibly something physical like a fingerprint.
- Close accounts and report evidence of identity theft - Identity theft is one of the most common crimes in the world, with an increasing number of victims each year. It is critical to act quickly if you notice any suspicious transactions on your financial statements or if you receive an email about a login attempt that was not made by you. By closing your account, reporting it to your bank, as well as filing an identity theft report with your relevant governmental authority you can prevent further financial harm.
There is no single solution to data security though, according to Reboot SEO Company.
True security comes from a combination of the right software tools, increasing your knowledge of cyberthreats, and establishing safe online practices. Hackers are constantly devising new and innovative methods of gaining access to your data, which can then be uploaded to the dark web and sold.
If you want to give yourself the best chance of preventing your information from ending up on the dark web, or if you want to explore the dark web out of curiosity, you should use a VPN because it will conceal your IP address, protecting your identity and location.
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