[Blog](/blog) Show links Resources [Blog](/blog) [Breaches](/breaches) [eBooks, reports, & more](/resources) [Events](/events) [News](/news) [Data Breaches](/category/data-breaches) Show links Categories [Attack Surface Management](/category/attack-surface-management) [Company News](/category/company-news) [Compliance and Regulations](/category/compliance-and-regulations) [Cybersecurity](/category/cybersecurity) [Data Breaches](/category/data-breaches) [DevOps](/category/devops) [Human Cyber Risk](/category/human-cyber-risk) [Risks and Vulnerabilities](/category/risks-and-vulnerabilities) [Third-Party Risk Management](/category/third-party-risk-management) [Vendor Risk Management](/category/vendor-risk-management) [Good Security Rating? Your Dark Web Exposure Says Otherwise](/blog/good-security-rating-your-dark-web-exposure-says-otherwise) Publish date October 13, 2026 {x} minute read # Good Security Rating? Your Dark Web Exposure Says Otherwise [Get a demo](/contact-sales) [Free trial](/demo) [Scan my domain](https://www.upguard.com/tools/dark-web-scan) [Download the PDF guide](/resources/the-lean-security-teams-playbook-for-dark-web-incident-response) [Free trial](/demo) [Scan my domain](https://www.upguard.com/tools/dark-web-scan) Written by [Lance Turner](/team/lance-turner) Content Writer Lance is a technology writer with an operations and systems engineering background. Reviewed by [Kaushik Sen](/team/kaushik-sen) Chief Marketing Officer Kaushik has a background in software engineering, enterprise solution architecture, and data analytics. He brings a unique, data-driven perspective to cybersecurity education. Table of contents Whitepaper The Lean Security Team's Playbook for Dark Web incident Response Free resource ### The Lean Security Team's Playbook for Dark Web incident Response [Download now](/resources/the-lean-security-teams-playbook-for-dark-web-incident-response) Ask a security leader how secure their company is, and most will point to a number. A rating, maybe a grade, or a score out of some maximum that a vendor calculated for them. That number only measures half the problem. It tells you about your infrastructure: your email configuration, your encryption, what's visible on the internet. It tells you much less about whether your employees' credentials are already exposed to an attacker. That second point is what a [dark web scan](https://www.upguard.com/blog/dark-web-monitoring) answers, and it's worth knowing before you assume a good rating means you're covered. Teams choosing an ongoing service after that first look can use [dark web monitoring vendors compared](/blog/dark-web-monitoring-vendors-compared). ## **The average company looks fine. And that's the problem.** Across the ASX 200, the average security rating in 2025 was a B, up slightly from the previous year. [UpGuard's ASX 200 report](https://www.upguard.com/resources/asx-200-cybersecurity-report) revealed critical insights beyond security ratings: in every risk category measured, up to a third of companies ended the year worse off than they started. And 10% of the companies closed 2025 with a verified, active infostealer infection, meaning malware had harvested working credentials off a real device tied to that company. Not an old password in a five-year-old dump. A credential that still works, right now. A good security rating and an active infostealer infection often coexist. While a rating evaluates your overall defenses, an infection reveals that an attacker has already bypassed them. For instance, stolen session cookies allow attackers to bypass multi-factor authentication entirely, making them appear as a legitimate user logging back in. ## **Security ratings change, and your monitoring should too** The same research found that security postures across the index tend to spike right after a major incident makes headlines, then quietly slide back down once the news cycle moves on. It happened after the [CrowdStrike outage in 2024](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2024/07/19/widespread-it-outage-due-crowdstrike-update) and again after last year's [Salesforce attacks.](https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/guidance/salesloft-drift-AI-supply-chain-attack) Proactively monitoring your security posture, rather than waiting for external incidents to trigger a review, closes the gaps that single audits or periodic tests might miss. ## **How well does your security measure up?** An industry average is useful right up until the moment you need your own number. It can't tell you whether your company is already carrying a live infection, nor can it tell you what's circulating out there that's tied to your domain. A dark web scan can. **Don’t wait. Run your free scan and find out where you stand.** [Scan my domain](https://www.upguard.com/tools/dark-web-scan) Whitepaper The Lean Security Team's Playbook for Dark Web incident Response Free resource ### The Lean Security Team's Playbook for Dark Web incident Response [Download now](/resources/the-lean-security-teams-playbook-for-dark-web-incident-response) ## Related posts Learn more about the latest issues in cybersecurity. Attack Surface Management #### [Find Out if You're Exposed on the Dark Web](/blog/find-out-if-youre-exposed-on-the-dark-web) Answer 5 quick questions to predict what a dark web scan will find about your company. Then run the free scan to see your real exposure. [](/team/lance-turner) [Lance Turner](#) October 14, 2026 Data Breaches #### [Your First Dark Web Scan Report, Explained](/blog/your-first-dark-web-scan-report-explained) You scanned your domain. What do the results mean? [](/team/lance-turner) [Lance Turner](#) October 13, 2026 Attack Surface Management #### [Shadow MCP Servers: The AI Infrastructure You Can't See](/blog/shadow-mcp-servers) In 2012, it was Dropbox. In 2026, it’s Shadow MCP. Discover why unvetted AI agents are an invisible threat and how to regain total visibility. [](/team/shane-moosa) [Shane Moosa](#) August 25, 2026 Attack Surface Management #### [Six MCP Security Incidents Every Security Leader Should Know](/blog/mcp-security-incidents) From registry poisoning to filesystem wipes: discover the 6 MCP security incidents every leader must know to secure their AI agent workflows in 2026. [](/team/shane-moosa) [Shane Moosa](#) July 1, 2026 Attack Surface Management #### [1 in 15 MCP Servers are Lookalikes: Is Your Org at Risk?](/blog/mcp-server-lookalikes) For every official MCP server, up to 15 lookalikes exist. Learn to identify these registry-layer threats and discover methods to protect your organization. [](/team/shane-moosa) [Shane Moosa](#) May 12, 2026 Attack Surface Management #### [Breach Risk Threat Monitoring: A Path to Clarity in Cyber Noise](/blog/threat-monitoring) Cut through the noise of constant security alerts to proactively identify and mitigate urgent breach risks before they escalate with threat monitoring. [](/team/shane-moosa) [Shane Moosa](#) September 3, 2026 [All posts](/blog) Experience superior visibility and a simpler approach to cyber risk management [Get a demo](/contact-sales) [Free trial](/demo)