Dark web intelligence is critical to defending the enterprise

A new survey of over a thousand CISOs from large enterprises in the US and UK, finds that 93 percent are concerned about dark web threats and 72 percent believe that intelligence on cybercriminals is critical to defending their organization.

The report from Searchlight Cyber looks at how CISOs are gathering data from the dark web to improve their security posture.

It shows that 79 percent are currently gathering data from the dark web. However, the research suggests that even among those that are already collecting dark web data, there is more work to be done in using it to overcome some of the greatest cybersecurity challenges. For example, while 71 percent of CISOs report a desire to see whether their suppliers are being targeted on the dark web, only 32 percent of those that are gathering dark web data are using it to monitor for attacks against their supply chain.

Companies in the US are ahead, with 80 percent of enterprises are gathering threat intelligence, compared to 72 percent in the UK. US enterprises are also more likely to use dark web data sources (84 percent vs 75 percent in the UK). It's not surprising then that 85 percent of US CISOs say that they feel confident they understand the profile of their adversaries, compared to 70 percent of CISOs in the UK.

"Our survey suggests that the US is slightly ahead of the UK in the adoption of dark web intelligence," says Ben Jones, CEO and co-founder of Searchlight Cyber. "What is significant is the clear pattern that emerges between gathering more threat intelligence and data from the dark web, and a better security posture. For the UK enterprises that haven't identified the opportunity of dark web intelligence the results make it crystal clear: gathering dark web intelligence will help them gain a better understanding of their adversaries and increase their chances of spotting an attack."

Among other findings, the finance industry leads the adoption of dark web intelligence with 85 percent of organizations already gathering data from the dark web, followed closely by manufacturing (83 percent), IT and telecoms (80 percent), and professional services (80 percent).

Healthcare though is significantly behind other industries, with only 57 percent of organizations using dark web intelligence in their security strategy. The oil and gas industry is also behind other 'high risk' sectors, with 66 percent of CISOs saying they gather data from the dark web.

The full report is available from the Searchlight Cyber site.

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