SIXGILL: Dark Web Intelligence with Sharp Teeth
December 14, 2017
“Sixgill” refers to the breathing apparatus of a shark. Deep. Silent. Stealthy. SIXGILL offers software and services which function like “your eyes in the Dark Web.”
Based in Netanya, just north of Tel Aviv, SIXGILL offers services for its cyber intelligence platform for the Dark Web. What sets the firm apart is its understanding of social networks and their mechanisms for operation.*
The company’s primary product is called “Dark-i.” The firm’s Web site states that the firm’s system can:
- Track and discover communication nodes across darknets with the capability to trace malicious activity back to their original sources
- Track criminal activity throughout the cyber crime lifecycle
- Operate in a covert manner including the ability to pinpoint and track illegal hideouts
- Support clients with automated and intelligence methods.
The Dark-i system is impressive. In a walk through of the firm’s capabilities, I noted these specific features of the Dark-i system:
- Easy-to-understand reports, including summaries of alleged bad actors behaviors with time stamp data
- Automated “profiles” of Dark Web malicious actors
- The social networks of the alleged bad actors
- The behavior patterns in accessing the Dark Web and the Dark Web sites the individuals visit.
- Access to the information on Dark Web forums.
Details about the innovations the company uses are very difficult to obtain. Based on open source information, a typical interface for SIXGILL looks like this:
Based on my reading of the information in the screenshot, it appears that this SIXGILL display provides the following information:
- The results of a query
- Items in the result set on a time line
- One-click filtering based on categories taken from the the sources and from tags generated by the system, threat actors, and Dark Web sources
- A list of forum posts with the “creator” identified along with the source site and the date of the post.
Compared with reports about Dark Web activity from other vendors providing Dark Web analytic, monitoring, and search services, the Dark Web Notebook team pegs s SIXGILL in the top tier of services.
Despite the sparse information available from open sources about the company, I can hazard the following hypotheses:
- Unlike some firms which talk about in-depth intelligence expertise, the s SIXGILL interface makes it clear that the approach is designed for operators and real-world intelligence professionals
- The detail available in the sample screenshot indicates that the s SIXGILL system is in tune with investigators and intelligence analysts need for time-centric functions. s SIXGILL appears to match, if not exceed, the Google- and In-Q-Tel funded Recorded Future service
- Useful features such as linking reports to cases and high-value one=click alert creation go well beyond the less robust systems from such companies as Digital Shadows and firms using Dark Web data to inform perimeter security service vendors like YBS or AlienApp from Alien Vault. These competitive services do provide useful functions, but s SIXGILL has packaged functionality in a service which is useful with little or no training.
For more information about s SIXGILL, the Dark Web Notebook team suggests you contact executives at the company via LinkedIn or by visiting this page on the company’s Web site.
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* Note: There is a company in Santa Monica which offers Internet of Things products and services. When you look for the Israeli company, be sure to search for “Cyber Sixgill.”
Stephen E Arnold, December 14, 2017
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