The dark web is still a mystery to most people, and that’s probably a good thing. It isn’t a place you want to venture into: the clue is in the name.
While it sounds ominous, the reality is rather more boring. The dark web is simply a bunch of websites that aren’t listed on Google and other search engines. That means in order to get to any of them you need special software – not Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge.
The dark web can be used for legitimate purposes, perhaps people or organisations that want their activity to be private and unseen. It’s also a way to avoid censorship.
However, it should be easy to see how a private internet could be used for illegal activity, too. And it is, sadly. Criminals use the dark web to buy and sell stolen data such as lists of credit cards, usernames, passwords: any personal information that could be used to make money, essentially.
Quite obviously, no-one wants their bank details, address or anything else ending up on the dark web but there’s a limit to what you can do to prevent it happening. Much of the time this sort of data ends up on the dark web when legitimate companies that store it are hacked. No doubt you’ve seen it in the news more than once.
There are other ways your identity can be stolen, too. You might apply for new passport, bank account or sign up to a new online service but instead of using the real, legitimate website it’s easy to click accidentally on a fraudulent site that looks like the genuine one, but is designed to trick you into entering enough personal information for the criminals behind it to steal your identity and use it to do the very same things, such as getting a credit card and making purchases.
While you can be more vigilant, you should also use free tools such as Norton Genie which can warn you that a link in an email, text or social media message could lead to a potential scam. All you have to do is upload a suspicious message, web link or email and the AI-powered Genie will tell you if it’s a scam or not.
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It’s more difficult to avoid giving legitimate companies your data because there are plenty of occasions – such as when you fly to another country – where you have to enter your name, date of birth and other personal details. This is where services such as Norton Identity Advisor Plus come in. They’ll notify you if these sorts of details are ever found on the dark web and they’ll tell you what you can do next to help you better protect your identity.¹
Norton Identity Advisor Plus goes a couple of steps further, though, monitoring your account on popular social media sites in case it looks like someone might have taken over your account², and alerting you if there are any major changes to your credit report³.
Better still, if the worst does happen, you’ll be assigned a dedicated Identity Restoration Specialist who will help you deal with the issues that identity theft has caused.
The £19.99 it costs for Norton Identity Advisor Plus is a small price to pay for better protecting your identity – and keeping tabs on your financial health. There’s even a 30-day trial if you want to give it a test drive first.
You can add another layer by using Norton Secure VPN. This ensures your sensitive information such as passwords, bank details and credit card numbers are scrambled using encryption whenever you’re connected to public Wi-Fi on your phone, PC or Mac. Like Norton Identity Advisor Plus, Norton Secure VPN is just £19.99 for the first year.
¹ Dark Web Monitoring is not available in all countries. Monitored information varies based on country of residence. It defaults to monitor your email address and begins immediately. Sign in to your account to enter more information for monitoring.
² Social Media Monitoring is not available on all social media platforms and the features differs between platforms, for details go to: Norton.com/smm. Does not include monitoring of chats or direct messages.
³ Norton Credit Portal features provided by TransUnion International UK Limited. Accessible to +18 residents of UK, I0M & Channel Islands, after successful registration & verification. Terms apply.