A search term is used by the Secure-ISS team to craft queries, that will in turn be used to uncover information about your organisation across the Internet, Deep and Dark Web. Its very much the same concept as to what any user may type into a Google search engine when looking for very targeted results.
A search term refers to wording added to and combined into a specific query, this is used to retrieve relevant information from our partners wide ranging data silos. These silos currently encompass:
To demonstrate the concept of a search term, let’s consider a Global Media search. This feature is designed to enhance your awareness of activities and articles that may impact an organisation’s reputation or brand by identifying discussions (both public and potentially private) involving your brand or institution.
While monitoring mainstream media outlets is relatively straightforward, Secure Sight goes beyond by referencing obscure regional publications, industry-specific blogs, and even mentions in legal documentation. With the capability to query this extensive database as frequently as every hour, Secure Sight promptly alerts you to any matches related to the specified search term, ensuring you stay informed about your brand’s online presence.
A common use of search terms involves identifying adverse media mentions that could potentially impact your institution’s reputation. Our platform offers the flexibility to customise searches to return only mentions of your institution alongside a variety of keywords, with support for wildcards. By specifying grouped keywords the topic of the search can be tailored to reflect what is important to you.
Stay informed on media mentions regarding legal matters involving your institution, suburb or entities in which you have a vested interest. Tracking adverse legal mentions helps ensure your team is aware of and can act upon threats to your organisation’s reputation and integrity.
Example keywords include:
Monitor media reports on controversies and/ or issues that could impact your reputation. This proactive stance enables you to promptly address emerging issues, ensuring that they are managed effectively before they escalate. By staying ahead of the narrative, you have the opportunity to shape public perceptions in a manner that aligns favourably with your institution’s values and objectives.
For example:
Monitoring news stories that showcase the accomplishments, awards, and career successes of alumni is of significant benefit. By actively tracking such achievements, you can highlight and promote your success stories, enhancing the prestige of your school or organisation and foster a sense of pride among current and prospective students. These success stories can assist in reinforcing your reputation and attract talented individuals by enhancing the brand and reputation of your institution.
Track mentions of noteworthy personnel such as Board Members, Executives, Principals, prominent staff members or students. By including names in the search term, you will be alerted to media mentions promptly which may bring to light unknown issues and prompt internal investigations should the sentiment be negative. Additionally, being alerted to positive mentions provides an opportunity to leverage these instances for positive public relations initiatives. This proactive approach helps organisations’ stay informed about their public image, enabling them to address concerns swiftly and capitalise on positive exposure.
Secure Sight actively monitors dark web marketplaces and forums where discussions, trades, and the dissemination of breach data can and does occur. This serves as an early warning system since mentions within these communities often precede the actual curation and release of breach data.
Being alerted to discussions involving your institution within these channels provides awareness of potential threats. Once aware of any chatter or mentions of terms associated with your organisations, the Secure-ISS SOC will work to curate the dataset and work with your team to initiate thorough investigations and attempt to mitigate any potential threat or risk to the organisation.
These investigations may uncover potential threats such as compromised accounts, backdoors or vulnerabilities pertaining to unmonitored devices. Although these incidents have already occurred, prompt detection and investigation can help mitigate further damage, lateral movement or the further theft of sensitive data.
By applying custom search terms, you can significantly reduce the dataset presented, enabling you to focus on potential reputational threats, or collate favorable mentions for promotional material or similar. This targeted approach ensures that you can efficiently monitor and address issues that may impact your institution’s public perception. This helps in managing public relations and addressing any potential issues promptly. Alternatively searches can be conducted for all mentions of your institution. This increases the burden on your team to asses what is relevant, however a broad ranging search will not be limited by contextual keywords and allows a more complete picture of media mentions.
The team at Secure-ISS will assist in the design and refinement of your custom search terms to align with your needs and objectives. Simply share with us the overarching concept of what you’re aiming for, and we’ll collaborate with you to craft search terms that yield the results you’re seeking.