Posted on by Clem Maloney

Permanent Cyber Security Role – Dark Web Intelligence and Threat Pathway Analysis

Description

Permanent Cyber Security Role – Dark Web Intelligence and Threat Pathway Analysis

Sector: Technology & Professional Services
Service: IT Resourcing & Cyber Security Recruitment
Objective: Recruit a permanent cyber security professional to determine whether the organisation’s digital assets were already present on the dark web, assess the extent of any exposure, and identify potential future breach pathways — including risks from emerging malicious AI agents such as GhostGPT.

Context

A leading Australian professional services firm was concerned about the potential exposure of sensitive digital assets — from client data to proprietary code — on the dark web. Recent sector-wide incidents and the rapid emergence of AI-driven threat actors, such as GhostGPT, heightened the urgency for proactive threat intelligence and defensive planning.

The organisation recognised that reactive incident response was insufficient; it needed a permanent cyber security professional embedded within its team to investigate possible current exposures, assess how these could have occurred, and develop strategies to reduce both immediate and future risks.

Approach

123.EXPERT undertook a targeted recruitment campaign to identify candidates with expertise in dark web intelligence gathering, advanced threat analysis, and AI-driven attack methodologies. The appointed cyber security professional was tasked to:

  • Conduct a dark web search to identify any existing organisational assets, credentials, or sensitive information.

  • Assess the extent and potential impact of any data already in circulation.

  • Map possible attack vectors — including phishing, social engineering, misconfigured cloud services, and supply chain weaknesses — that could lead to future breaches.

  • Analyse the capabilities and behaviours of emerging malicious AI tools, including GhostGPT, and how they could be leveraged by threat actors.

  • Recommend and help implement preventive measures, incident detection improvements, and security awareness initiatives.

Impact

The investigation revealed a small number of historical data exposures on the dark web, which were contained and neutralised through rapid remediation. More critically, the analysis uncovered several unaddressed vulnerabilities that could have been exploited by both traditional and AI-driven attacks.

By recruiting through 123.EXPERT, the firm secured a rare combination of deep technical expertise and strategic foresight. This enabled it to strengthen defences, address immediate risks, and establish an ongoing capability to anticipate and mitigate threats in a rapidly evolving cyber security landscape.