The ‘Dark Web’, what is it? Does it damage business? Waseem Saddique Marketing Investigates

Did you know? Internet surfers use just three hundredths of one per cent of the internet, so where’s the rest? The answer lies in the ‘dark web’ or the ‘dark internet’, an unmonitored area in cyberspace that has become increasingly more sinister and accessible.

Waseem Saddique comments: “It may surprise the ‘average’ internet user to know that when using the Google search engine to find information the pages listed do not make up the entire internet. Think of the internet like an iceberg, the tip sits above the surface, but the bulk of the iceberg stretches miles below the surface.”

Waseem continues: “The iceberg analogy represents a perfect model of the internet; Google is simply the tip of the iceberg, whilst the rest of the internet holds deeper and darker secrets.”

The ‘dark web’ originates from software pioneered by the US Navy in 2002, designed to safeguard government communications. 

However, the Tor software system was soon adopted by savvy techies all over the world. It’s the Tor software system that has developed a reputation as the ‘dark web’, allowing internet users to surf the web completely unmonitored and anonymously.

Now, as the Government pushes for companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and other major online companies to censor ‘harmful’ content, concerns have surfaced that such pressure to implement censorship will drive web users towards the ‘dark web’ proxy, obscuring the identity of users and the sites hosted.

The pioneers of the Tor project, a non-profit organisation whose inception took place in Walpole, Massachusetts in 2002, say that the project was establish with the intention of making anonymous web-surfing mainstream.

In an article published by the Independent, Tor project pioneers claim that ‘the numbers of users of its free software doubled between 2011 and 2012, reaching around 600,000 people each year – and, though the numbers are hard to trust, its data suggests there are 15,715 unique daily users in Britain. But as whole companies could be operating from one address, calculating the true usage is impossible.’

How does Tor work?

Tor, short for ‘The Onion Router’ because of its layer like complexities, functions by directing web traffic across a series of nodes – aka onion routes – adding layers of encrypted code at various intervals. The result is that browsers and online users, as well as the individuals hosting the websites it features, remain untraceable by authorities.

It is Tor software that kept the identity of ‘Prism’ whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, anonymous before he publically revealed details of the USA’s ‘secret’ surveillance system.

How does it damage business?

Waseem Saddique comments: “Reputation management becomes increasingly difficult as a result of the ‘dark web’, a proportion of companies in particular industry sectors have been subjected to a barrage of negative publicity as a result of dark web activity.”

As the ‘dark web’ is made up of non-indexable content and is 500 times larger than the ‘web surface’, the content stored is so much more difficult to trace and access. Businesses under attack from negative publicity posted through the ‘dark web’ will find it virtually impossible to trace the perpetrator and even if they do locate them the damage may already be irreparable.     

The other sinister aspect of the ‘dark web’ is that it allows for complete anonymity, which provides people with the opportunity to post slanderous and defamatory comments about particular businesses all over the web, whether via blog, social media or an online forum. The ramifications of such activity could easily damage a business brand, without any means of preventing it.

The warning issued to online business owners by computer security consultants is beware and get educated about the ‘dark web’.

Blog Standard: Waseem Saddique Marketing Services Offers Tips on Blogging for Business Purposes

Waseem Saddique provides essential tips for businesses that blog, offering valuable information that will enable companies to maximise the potential of their blogging efforts.

Waseem Saddique says: “A blog can be immensely effective in driving traffic to a website. If done properly, they have the power to transform any business into a thriving arena, swamped with sales and consumer interest. Furthermore, they can significantly increase the prominence of a business, building a reputation as a major player within an industry sector.”

1. If you don’t have a blog, get one. Blogs can be set up through service providers such as Blogger or Wordpress, but many more exist. They are fairly simple to maintain and provide a great opportunity to showcase the expertise of your business and share it with a wide audience. Should it become a struggle to maintain, outsource it. There are plenty of marketing services that exist to assist in helping a business to keep up blogging efforts.
2. Use your blog to supply a business audience with information and advice. ‘How to’ articles, tips and information on how to solve problems are extremely popular blog subjects for consumers. Any help that a business can provide on how to solve specific problems are often craved by the online audience.
3. Make your blog unique and bring your business to the forefront, ahead of the crowd. Provide regular updates that are in keeping with what’s happening in your industry sector. Information provided should be beneficial to your audience, keeping them gripped and attracted to your blog.
4. Build a community based around your business blog. Target your content to a particular audience through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter as this will enhance the possibility of your business blog being shared.  Waseem Saddique states: “All this begins by providing captivating and compelling content, which engages consumers.”
5. Give a true reflection of your brand and company ethos by taking a step back from the corporate stance and become a member of the consumer community. Strip away the office attire and interact with your audience through conversational content.  Building trust is key and by becoming reliable and trustworthy increases the chances of converting leads into sales.
6. A business blog should educate, not only the consumer audience, but also the industry sector that your business is in. By building a community of followers it enables your business to identify consumer problems that your company can solve, offering them effective solutions whether that be by way of a product or service.

Waseem Saddique comments: “A business blog can become an effective online marketing resource for companies as it subconsciously wins the trust of the audience and keeps them coming back to your blog when in need of advice or guidance.”

Providing a ‘stand out’ service to your customers will portray your company as superior to your competitors, putting your business in the driving seat within your industry sector and for increasing sales.

Furthermore, keeping prospective customers coming back to the blog will enhance the reputation of the business within the industry sector and greatly improve ranking status on major search engines such as Google.

Waseem Saddique concludes: “By offering products or services in a way that offers a solution to a problem, customers will feel more confident in giving it a try. Trying to be too pushy with a Salesperson type approach is unattractive to consumers.”

Waseem Saddique Calls Companies to Combat Click Fraud

Waseem Saddique Marketing Services is urging businesses to protect their online advertising campaigns from click fraud as Christmas approaches.

As competition for consumer attention grows during the Christmas period, Waseem Saddique Marketing Services, based in Birmingham, is calling for companies to be aware of ‘irregular’ activity on their online advertising accounts.

Waseem Saddique comments: “Click fraud costs companies a substantial amount of money and can have a severe impact on online advertising campaigns.”

According to figures released by Click Forensics and Anchor Intelligence between 17-29% of clicks on paid for online advertisements are bogus. The clicks are often instigated by scam operators and company rivals. These clicks cost money, but generate no sales, signups or revenue.

Yet, there is a solution available, says Waseem Saddique Marketing Services: “There are a number of monitoring systems available to track your online marketing campaign and detect any fraudulent activity that is taking place.”

The majority of these systems offer 24 hour monitoring capabilities, allowing online marketers to monitor the authenticity of every click and combat those clicks that are fraudulent.

Such monitoring systems allow the victim of click fraud to block and deter fraudulent clicks. 

Should scam operators or competitors get caught committing click fraud the potential ramifications are serious. Making these people aware that you’re tracking them will make them think twice about continuing with their illegal activities.

Should you become the victim of click fraud, a number of monitoring systems have the capability to produce comprehensive fraud reports that detail IP addresses, locations, referring URLs and the exact dates and times of when suspicious incidents occurred.

Waseem Saddique says: “You need to be meticulous in your approach. Completely analyse and go through all details that could relate to any suspicious activity. Click fraud is preventable if campaigns are monitored and managed carefully.”

No matter where you position your online advertising campaign, whether it is on your website, social media sites (such as Facebook or Twitter) or on a blog, constant monitoring is the key to combatting click fraud this Christmas and beyond.