A recent study revealed that more than 15 billion credentials are in circulation through the Dark Web, representing a 300% increase since 2018. The information available ranges from network access credentials, bank login data and even streaming service accounts such as Netflix.

The price of Bitcoin will increase as investor demographics change
According to research conducted by the cybersecurity company, Digital Shadows, some of the filtered data even circulates for free.

The report warns that the reason why so many account credentials are available online is that people use not very complex passwords that can easily be forced with hacking tools.

Access to corporate networks are an open door for ransomware attacks

The most valuable credentials filtered include access to corporate networks. This type of data can reach prices of up to $120,000 and usually costs an average of $3,139, depending on several factors such as company revenue.

Member of the Catalan government published a book with proposals to make Catalonia a digital nation
The circulation of such data means that ransomware groups can use such access to infiltrate an entire network. This would allow them to deploy the malware of their choice and ultimately hold these networks to ransom.

Individual bank login details are sold at an average price of USD 70.91, while access to anti-virus programs costs an average of USD 21.67.

Bitcoin will never be truly private, says Andreas Antonopoulos

Enable multiple factors to secure your login credentials
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Brett Callow, a threat analyst at the Emsisoft malware lab, warned:

„An immense amount of user credentials are exposed daily in many ways, from phishing, to malware attacks and data breaches. The consequences of exposure can be minor, such as in the case of Netflix login leaks, or extremely serious, such as leaked banking credentials.

While there is no „silver bullet“ against this problem, Callow says, that individuals can limit the likelihood that their accounts will be compromised by using strong passwords, „never reusing passwords, an anti-virus solution, keeping your operating system up to date with patches, and most importantly, using two- or multi-factor authentication on all services that support it.

Research conducted by cybersecurity firm, Cyble Research Team, revealed that on May 29th, data from more than 80,000 credit cards were released on the Dak Web. The data on these to have been collected from several countries around the world.

U.S. Secret Service Issues Ransomware Warning
Cointelegraph also reported that a group of hackers known as the „Keeper“ established an interconnected network to steal credit card data from more than 570 e-commerce sites. Since 2017, they have generated more than USD 7 million in crypto currency by selling card information through the Dark Web.