There is a place hidden beneath the internet you use every day yet probably didn’t know exists. It is a hidden underbelly, home to rouges, political activists and some nasty organisations. It is also one of the places confidential information is sold i.e. personal and corporate data. It is called the Darknet.
What is the Darknet?
The Darknet (short for Dark Network) is a secret place only accessed by using specialist software and even then it is difficult to penetrate unless you’re in the know. You may have heard of the term Dark Web. This refers to websites that sit within the Dark Network.
In the Darknet, you will find an intentionally society that lurks in the blind spot of search engines. So it’s not surprise that Dark Websites are hard to find. Like a lawless land it is not a place where most people would want to visit, nor should they.
The lighter side of the Darknet:
The Darknet is cloaked in obscurity with specialised software that guarantees encryption and anonymity between users.
Search engines do not crawl the depths of the Darknet so you won’t see its content on the likes of Google.
Having said it is a scary place to be, it does have a lighter side. In countries where freedom of speech is not allowed, the Darknet is used by individuals and organisations to voice their opinions freely without fear of censorship or persecution.
The threat to organisations
The lesson to be learnt here is that information is worth money. Even names and addresses have a value in the Darkweb. For any business, a data breach is costly (because of possible fines), damaging to corporate image and scary for the individuals it may affect.
Always make sure that redundant data is dealt with by an authorised and accredited company. And this data lives in redundant IT equipment. Recycling Your IT has the know- how, experience, knowledge, accreditations and equipment to securely eradicate all data from documents to hard drives and certify that this has been completed.