Deep web awash with benefits for businesses

MEDIA RELEASE

1 May 2017

Deep web awash with benefits for businesses

The deep web has a sinister reputation but New Zealand businesses can gain valuable insights and positive advantages from using it, says a visiting British cybercrime expert.

Dr Stephen Hill, who advises companies and individuals in fraud risk management, data security, and internet investigations, says there is great potential for businesses to use the deep web to source information and gain improved intelligence for everything from due diligence through to insolvency asset tracing.

While the surface web – the likes of Google and Facebook – makes up 10 per cent of the internet, the deep web is a vast matrix of information taking up the other 90 percent and allows users to browse beneath the day-to-day internet with anonymity.

Dr Hill, whose clients include police departments throughout Europe and the Middle East, and companies in the accounting, banking, legal, and retail sectors, is in New Zealand in May for a presentation about safeguarding companies’ digital futures and internet search techniques.

“It’s fair to say there is a plethora of data floating in cyberspace. For online investigators, the internet is a vital tool as search engines and social media monitoring tools have developed with far more capabilities to assist in the retrieval of information – if you know where to look,” he says.

He uses examples of staff screening via social media to help ensure a company is hiring the right people and undertaking due diligence via “deep dives” as just some of the benefits to businesses using advanced internet search processes.

“Open source intelligence is the most common search undertaken by businesses using the surface web, there are even greater opportunities using the deep web to discover hidden information.”

Catie Cotcher, General Manager of Cloud accounting software company Reckon NZ, says businesses are using technology more effectively, and tapping into the deep web, or using sophisticated social media search techniques, to enhance what they do and ensure they are functioning at their best.

“You can’t beat a good old fashioned job interview when it comes to recruiting new staff but to ensure a company is getting the best candidate for the job, a more thorough and well-rounded screening method is essential.

“Businesses count on having reliable and comprehensive information and when it comes to something like due diligence or insolvency cases, having access to information that provides detailed insight is key to protecting a company’s interests and ensuring the right decisions are made.”

Shane Browning, partner at Auckland based accounting firm DFK Oswin Griffiths Carlton, says Cloud based management and accounting systems are heavily reliant on the integrity of the web and companies need to be aware of both the risks and advantages that are out there.

“We expect to see continued rapid growth in client take up of cloud and web based systems in the next couple of years and it is essential businesses are up to date and aware of the opportunities and threats posed by the deep web and cyber security issues.”

The event is being held at Chartered Accountants ANZ Conference Centre in Parnell on Friday 5 May 2017.

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