What is the Dark Web?

You may have heard the term the Dark Web bandied about a lot in recent years, but what is it exactly?

In simple terms, the Dark Web consists of unlisted and unknown websites (don’t bother Googling for them) that are heavily used for criminal activities, whilst there are some legitimate business uses for it, you can be almost certain that if your information is on the Dark Web, it is not good news.

The most common types of personally identifiable information traded on the Dark Web are listed below, with the right combination of information criminals have the ability to do such dastardly deeds as opening credit card facilities under your name allowing them to spend up big whilst burning your credit rating,  setting up direct debit authorities from your bank account to pay for their lifestyle and creating fake identities. 

But normally, the first thing they do is infiltrate your accounts such as Office365 or Gmail with your email and password and harvest as much information as they can on your life and habits or lock your accounts and ransom them back to you.

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Password
  • Credit/debit card numbers
  • Physical Address
  • Date of Birth
  • Medicare number
  • Passport number
  • Bank account details
  • Phone numbers
  • Driver's license


The Dark Web also allows criminals to hide their location, so the authorities can’t find them, what more could a bad guy ask for? So, if you’re looking to sell databases of credit card, bank accounts and Medicare numbers online, then the Dark Web is your best bet.

The most infamous area of the Dark Web was Silk Road, an online black market for drugs and other illicit things, amassing sales of USD1.2 billion annually at its peak before being shut down by the FBI in 2013.

 FortiTech can undertake real-time Dark Web scanning, on the commonly known sites where criminals are selling personal information on “forum” like discussion boards.  

FortiTech’s Dark Web Scanning service allows you to be alerted when your information is discovered for sale, allowing you to then take immediate action to secure your affected details, such as cancelling your credit card or changing your passwords.

If the security of your personal data is paramount, then give us a call on 1300 778 078 and we can start you on the road to staying one step ahead of the criminals.