How much your private data cost on the Dark Web
2 min read
2020 has been one of the worst years for cyber attacks. There were more than 1001 data breaches and 155.8 million records were exposed in 2020. It’s not a secret to anyone that all that data ends up selling on the Dark web.
The research conducted by Privacy Affairs, titled “Dark Web Price Index 2021”, provided a detailed breakdown of just how much your personal information is worth on Dark Web markets. It also discusses how vendors are stealing and selling anything from your Netflix account details to credit card information and even forged documents.
Why Is Cybercrime Getting Worse?
Privacy Affairs mentioned the growing prevalence of cryptocurrencies and the increasing trend of digital shopping as contributing factors for the rise in cybercrimes, a trend that only grew during COVID.
The societal-changing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic catapulted the online shopping movement, resulting in serious profits and gains for online distribution companies. We also saw the emergence of more payment processing services similar to PayPal.
These payment processors all vary when it comes to the level of cybersecurity provided, making such services a risk. Privacy Affairs notes the fluctuating value of hacked accounts from such services, commenting that hacked PayPal account details are some of the most numerous on Dark Web markets.
It’s not surprising that cloned credit cards are popular sellers or that hacked crypto accounts are the most valued due to their high price values and allowance of anonymous cash-withdrawals on Bitcoin ATMs.
What Does the Price Index Report Tell Us?
The findings made by Privacy Affairs show us how price values have shifted for certain types of information, with some decreasing or increasing in value and prevalence on Dark Web sites.
Hacked social media, email, and online subscription accounts are numerous but are also not highly valued, as they are not worth the effort required to steal them. Forged documents, both physical and scans, are the most highly valued on such sites.
What’s more, the report notes that these vendor sites also sell and distribute covert transfer guides, malware programs, and DDOS attack services.
What to Do to Keep Yourself and Your Personal Information Protected from Hackers?
The main takeaway of the report should be that we all need to take better care of our digital information by avoiding using public Wi-Fi, using anti-virus and malware services, deleting old and unused accounts, and using different passwords for everything.
The report also mentions the importance of checking ATMs for skimmers and fake keypads before entering your card or pin. Luckily, you can easily check for these by nudging the card reader and keypad — if it moves around, report it.
Conclusion
The digital age has both made life easier and harder, safer and not, something we must all keep in mind when using the internet. As you can see from our look at the Dark Web Price Index 2021, your information is very valuable to those who want it.
Binary Blogger has spent 20 years in the Information Security space currently providing security solutions and evangelism to clients. From early web application programming, system administration, senior management to enterprise consulting I provide practical security analysis and solutions to help companies and individuals figure out HOW to be secure every day.
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