Dark Web email checking
We all hear about the dark web, usually in association with crime reports and news bulletins. There are a few technical nuances relating to dark web, deep web and deep internet -but for the purpose of this article we'll be using the phrase 'Dark Web' to relate to the area of the internet that is not indexed by search engines, can only be navigated with an encrypted presence and is used by people who remain anonymous as a result of using technical knowledge to conceal their identities.
It's something that most people never get to see, as it's not something you can stumble into - by nature of being an un-indexed encrypted area. Because it's not indexed, it's not easily navigable. You need to know what you are looking for and how to find it. It's accessible with a special browser which is downloaded just like you'd install any other internet browser. That's where the similarity ends.
We're not going to give you guidance about how to access the Dark Web. We will just explain a little bit about why and how we check for Dark Web associated emails.
Anonymous users and email addresses are linked to online fraud
Users on the Dark Web are there to do whatever it is they do anonymously. It's the anonymous bit that triggers our interest, as we are sure of the link between people concealing their identity and instances of fraud online.
Bit of a flag wave here for human rights - Dark Web users can also be people who live in areas of the world where government control over internet access means that access to the 'outside' world has to be secretive. Accessing the Dark Web is always anonymous and usage is basically untraceable.
There will always be talk about privacy and government snooping and the right to be anonymous online. But we've no doubt that fraud happens more often online when identities are concealed.
We have 'a thing' about identity concealment so we work to locate email addresses that are cloaked. Then we identify them and leave you to decide whether you want to deal with people who are attempting to be shifty and anonymous.
Every email has a fingerprint
Our IT team access the Dark Web and we've ways to identify users who have associations with Dark Web use. Within this blog we're not about to go into details. But we will say that every email has a fingerprint and we check each one in various ways to see if it's dirty. We keep a list of these emails and associated information and every email you validate using our MORE email verification API is checked against it.
Emails and infrastructure changes. If we were ahead of the game with the Dark Web we wouldn't be validating email addresses, we'd be working for government agencies! The best we can do is assure you that, to the best of our ability, we keep your lists free from people who are using emails associated with Dark Web activity.
Learn about why email verification is essential for your business
Some good clean stuff to look at
At the base of our blogs we usually provide links to helpful sources, but we're not going to link you to anything that points to Dark Web resources.
Instead, here is a link to see a premature baby hippo meeting her mom for the first time. Because it feels like you need to get clean after Dark Web writing.
See Baby Fiona at Cincinnati Zoo.
Here is our More API that filters dark mail email addresses
