Sterile neutrinos are a natural ingredient of many
extensions of the Standard Model. In first part of this talk, we
discuss results from a global fit to short-baseline oscillation data
and discuss the possible hints for sterile neutrinos with masses of
order >~ 1 eV. We also highlight the tension that exists between these
hints and null results from other experiments. We then discuss the
implications that the existence of sterile neutrinos can have for dark
matter searches. For instance, MSW-enhanced conversion of active
neutrinos into sterile flavors can significantly reduce the discovery
potential for neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in the Sun in a
neutrino telescope. Moreover, low-energy scattering of sterile
neutrinos on electrons and nuclei can be enhanced by new physics (e.g.
a new light gauge boson), and could then lead to interesting signals
in direct dark matter searches. In particular, sterile neutrinos
produced in the Sun can mimic a dark matter signal and can potentially
explain some of the anomalous signals observed in DAMA, CoGeNT and CRESST.