While online investigations have been around for years, online investigation platforms are rising to meet unique business need for online investigations. There are several use cases in which an online investigation may be warranted by business need. However, since a search engine only accesses 4% of the internet, the days of “just Google it” have ceased being effective way to provide organizations with the investigative results they require.
Hence the rise of online investigation software platforms. Now, more than ever, being able to conduct an online investigations using the surface web, the deep web and dark web as well as social media is critical to protecting brand reputation, intellectual property and VIPs while stopping insider threats and more.
What are the business use cases that would warrant an online investigation, and how can software platforms unlock the secrets of the web beyond internet search engines?
Brand Protection: The public’s perception of you brand is a fragile thing. Negative or erroneous posts can gain traction if ignored, while counterfeit items can cause brand and legal harm. With investigation platforms, you can follow negative sentiment and false news, investigate the digital footprint of any presence harming your brand and anonymously monitor the dark web for mentions of your brand.
Intellectual Property: Your company’s IP is extremely valuable. Mentions of your IP on surface, deep and dark web can make you aware of leaks and help investigate other sources of known breaches. With investigation platforms, you can set searches and alerts, investigate known data breaches to identify the source of leaks and search dark web markets for mentions of your IP.
Insider Threats: Your employees can be in a unique position to case immense security threats to your organization. Inadvertent exposure of confidential information, negative or threatening posts or selling stolen merchandise can harm your brand and put you at risk. Online investigation platforms offer a way to easily search blogs, forum and social media while safely searching dark web markets where illegal goods and credentials are sold.
VIP Protection: Physical protection is no longer enough for VIP’s, great harm can come from the digital world. Issues like online impersonations, negative comments or threats or social posts revealing sensitive information are issues you need to be aware of. Online investigation platforms help by building custom searches and alerts to ensure information is not available to the public, protect against digital impersonations and search the dark web to learn of malicious activities.
Online investigations are covering a broad range of business use cases. Brand protection, IP protection and more are driving the need for more advance investigation tools. These tools offer a single pane of glass view into the surface web, deep web, dark web and social media allowing organizations to safely, securely and accurately perform online investigations, making this platforms a key component of your investigative toolkit.
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Joe Capote 