We’ve all heard of the dark web, but what is it really? What can you find there and is it all bad? We’ll explore the difference between the dark web and the deep web, what you will find in each and what you need to know.

Deep Web or Dark Web?

You’ll sometimes hear people refer to the “dark web” and the “deep web” as the same place, but that’s not true. The deep web (also referred to as “hidden web” or “invisible web”) refers to places on the internet that can only be accessed through a login. That would include your online banking, Netflix, Ancestry.com, and any other membership site.

The deep web = login + password

If you need to login to see it, that’s the deep web. You’ve been using the deep web for years and didn’t even know it. Because it’s behind a paywall or a membership login, these parts of the internet are not indexed, so you won’t find them from a Google search.

The dark web is the bad one

The dark web isn’t indexed by search engines either, but that’s because of the illegal and dangerous nature of its content. We’ve all heard stories and read headlines of the illicit activities that take place there. It’s all true. This is a place where you can buy everything from illegally harvested organs to hacked bank account information.

It’s a truly malicious marketplace.

Cyber Criminals Love the Dark Web

You see, some cyber criminals are great at stealing personal information with malware or through hacking, but they don’t want to get caught using it. They then post listings for this information on the dark web and allow other users to purchase it.

A hacker is less likely to get caught if they are selling your information to other criminals rather than using the information for fraud.

Stolen information is the dark web’s currency

Because of this, information is one of the main items bought and sold on the dark web, and you’re caught right in the middle of it. This is where dark web monitoring comes into play.

Dark Web Monitoring

With dark web monitoring, you’ll receive notifications when your information has been compromised and is available to criminals. This could include your bank account login and password, your social security number and place of employment, or even your birth date and home address.

Any single piece of information is harmless enough—it’s easy to guess a random social security number. The trouble is when they get more than that. When multiple pieces of information are combined, it allows the criminal to commit a wide range of crimes from unemployment fraud, credit card fraud, home title theft and more.

How dark web monitoring works

Dark web monitoring will notify you when your private information is posted online. This gives you the opportunity to update passwords, change details and even pause your credit. This is the closest thing to fortune telling and it could save you from becoming a victim.

Make sure you’ve protected yourself with an identity theft recovery service, but upgrading to a dark web monitoring is the ounce of prevention that will save you from a deep dark headache.