How to protect yourself from 'The Dark Web': 10 simple steps to keeping your details safe fraudsters and hackers

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TalkTalk is the latest victim of a cyber attack, compromising the bank details of four million of its broadband and phone customers. But it’s not alone, according to a former MI6 officer who warns of ‘mushrooming’ losses for companies and a greater risk to consumers.

Millions of customers of TalkTalk are at risk of fraud after hackers attacked the phone and internet provider’s IT systems last week, sparking a major investigation by the police.

Customers are now being asked to monitor their accounts, check their credit reports and to remember to never give out information or passwords to anyone who calls or emails, as criminals may now have personal details, including names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, account information, credit card and bank details.

Scam: IT security consultant Tom Chantler. Above: Ex-MI6 officer Stuart Poole-Robb

A big concern is that this information could be put up for sale on the ‘dark web’ – the expanse of internet space hidden to most users, but not gangs of cyber criminals.

The Mail on Sunday has also learned that five big law firms have been victims of hacking in the last two months, with sensitive data up for grabs on the dark web.

TalkTalk’s data could be the latest addition to this flourishing underground economy where information is sold to the highest bidder.

In the UK, a person’s credit or debit card details can be sold online for between £10 and £25. Bank log-in credentials are traded for anywhere between £300 and £6,500.

Former MI6 officer Stuart Poole-Robb says: ‘Much of what lies beneath the surface of the internet is innocuous: research databases, pay-walled websites and abandoned sites. But there also exists this rapidly growing parallel internet. Its anonymity lets people trade in illicit goods and services of all kinds with little chance of being caught.’

The software used offers anonymity to those visiting and was originally developed by the US Navy.

Poole-Robb is boss of information security specialist KCS Group, which is acting on behalf of one international bank and two major law firms that have had their systems hacked.

A big energy provider is also said to have discovered spyware sitting on its system for nine months, thought to be the work of a ‘foreign power’, which exposed sensitive customer data to dark web users.

And KCS says industries such as banking have so far ‘failed to keep pace’ with the complex strategies used by hackers, leaving customers more vulnerable than ever to the dark forces of criminal wizardry.

SOPHISTICATED TOOLS

Data harvested by criminals can be used in a number of ways to get rich quick.

However, if a final piece of the puzzle is needed from a victim, fraudsters will use increasingly sophisticated tools to get hold of that too.

Social media is widely used. Fraudsters trawl all available information for facts about a person. They put the details together like a jigsaw, so they have enough information to convince a victim they are who they say they are, with the result that emails and phone calls look or sound like they are from a firm – or even a person – the victim knows.

So compelling are the lies, fraud is no longer a case of a fool and their money being easily parted.

Recently, it emerged that London hedge fund Fortelus Capital Management lost £740,000 in one afternoon back in 2013, after the finance chief believed he was speaking with Coutts, the company’s bank, and revealed security details over the phone.

The scammer had claimed there was fraudulent activity on the firm’s account, but used the specifics surrendered to raid it.

Each month a dozen solicitors are reporting such calls, known as ‘vishing’ or voice phishing.

Individuals buying property have also been targeted when they are midway through the conveyancing process and due to transfer sizeable chunks of money.

A new threat emerging to revive this type of scam is ‘voice morphing’ – digital reproduction of human voices. It is a military tool developed after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, but sources monitoring activity on the dark web have reported that criminal gangs are showing an interest.

What could follow is a phone call people believe is from their partner, friend or boss but is, in reality, a very good impersonation.

Experts warn that whatever the preamble for an email or call, and however convincing, the end result will be a demand for account information or money if it is a scam.

Recent research by free personal credit-checking service Noddle shows more than a third of us admit we could be tricked into handing over information.

To learn more about the different types of scams, visit actionfraud.police.uk. For a wealth of information about threats and how to protect yourself, visit getsafeonline.org or the Government website cyberstreetwise.com.