Organisation data on dark web increases cyber attack risk: Marsh McLennan

The presence of any data related to an organisation on the dark web increases its risk of cyberattacks, according to a study by Searchlight Cyber and the Marsh McLennan Cyber Risk Intelligence Center.

The Center examined Searchlight’s dark web dataset alongside a sample of 9,410 organisations, which had an overall breach rate of 3.7% from 2020 to 2023. The aim was to establish a link between data breaches and dark web findings in the year prior to each incident.

The study found that all nine of Searchlight’s dark web intelligence sources correlate with increased cybersecurity risk. A multi-variable analysis also showed that using multiple dark web sources strengthens the indication of increased cyber risk.

Among the findings, Paste Results, OSINT Results, and Dark Web Market Listings were most closely associated with cyber insurance loss frequency when considered alongside other factors.

Ben Jones, Co-Founder and CEO of Searchlight Cyber, stated, “The core finding of Marsh McLennan’s analysis is that any data related to your organisation on the dark web is highly correlated with your chance of a cyberattack. Cybercriminals plan their attacks on dark web forums, marketplaces, and in hidden communication channels, and the study has quantified the risk of each of these areas of dark web exposure for the first time.”

He continued, “If security teams can identify their exposure on the dark web they have a huge opportunity to proactively act, adjust their defences, and effectively stop attacks before they are launched by cybercriminals. The first step is to gain visibility: to understand where the threat on the dark web is coming from, where the organisation is being targeted, and continuously monitor to give themselves the best chance of identifying and stopping a cybersecurity incident.”

Scott Stransky, Managing Director and Head of the Marsh McLennan Cyber Risk Intelligence Center, noted, “Historically the insurance industry has focused on data from within an organisation, such as questionnaires, along with outside-in technographic scans for determining cybersecurity risk. While this data is extremely valuable, ignoring dark web factors external to the organisation’s network leaves the industry with a blind spot around who could be targeting the organisations they insure and the resources those cybercriminals possess to execute their attacks.”

He added, “Our analysis of the dark web intelligence market found that this dataset is highly correlated with cyber insurance loss frequency and that external threat factors are correlated with cybersecurity incident frequency.”

Following the study, Searchlight and the Marsh McLennan Cyber Risk Intelligence Center will collaborate to help organisations leverage dark web intelligence to assess and mitigate risks.

Additionally, Searchlight has released a Dark Web Risk Report, a free resource that organisations can use to view their dark web exposure and associated risks, based on an analysis from the Cyber Risk Intelligence Center.

This website states: The content on this site is sourced from the internet. If there is any infringement, please contact us and we will handle it promptly.