Your Entire Identity Is Up for Sale at the Dark Web.
Having multiple accounts online is a common practice as we use all sorts of services from carrying out transactions on PayPal to social networking through Facebook and buying groceries from Walmart. Hackers have now come up with another way of exploiting unsuspecting users’ identity, said the information security training professionals.
But, if all of your accounts could be hacked and sold to fraudsters, your entire identity on the web will be hijacked.
According to the findings of a team of information security experts from the UK-based Virtual Private Network comparison service Top10VPN, fraudsters on Dark Web are now after all your accounts on the web. Reportedly, malicious hackers operating on the Dark Web can buy someone’s entire identity-which cybercriminals refer to as Fullz-for as low as £820. The startling revelations were made in the first ever Dark Web Market Price Index by Top10VPN.
Information security training experts analyzed tens of thousands of ID lists uploaded in 2018 on three mainstream markets on the Dark Web namely Wall Street Market, Dream, and Point. As per their findings, a person’s bank details can be acquired for around £168 while PayPal logins can fetch nearly £280. Passport details can be obtained for just £40 and details of online shopping accounts on platforms like Amazon, Walmart and Tesco are available for £5.
All kinds of login credentials are in demand from Match.com login IDs to Airbnb profiles, social media accounts like on Facebook or Twitter, Netflix accounts and even eBay and Deliveroo credentials. Almost every type of account can be hacked and sold on the Dark Web.
The reason why these hacked IDs are so in demand is that hackers are able to carry out identity theft by using these credentials as a backdoor for just some bucks.
According to the information security training researcher, Simon Migliano: “Our research is a stark reminder of just how easy it is to get hold of personal info on the dark web and the sheer variety of routes that fraudsters can take to get hold of your money. This really underlines the importance of two-factor authentication and more generally the secure use of websites and apps.”
It was not clarified by the researchers whether personal identity information prices are going up or down on the Dark Web but information security experts are observing a plunging trend. McAfee’s chief scientist Raj Samani states:
“It seems like the prices are a little lower than 2015. However, there are certainly more services on offer than before. Validity rates are not included so like-for-like comparisons are challenging.”
Information security training specialists are concerned about the low rates of this sort of vital information as such valuable personal data is so easily and readily available in such low rates that anyone can buy them and carry out a variety of malicious attacks.
Working as a cyber security solutions architect, Alisa focuses on application and network security. Before joining us she held a cyber security researcher positions within a variety of cyber security start-ups. She also experience in different industry domains like finance, healthcare and consumer products.
