Hackers sell terabytes of stolen data for Bitcoins
Sometimes, studying the news about the next hacks and digital crimes, you are amazed at the arrogance and desperation of hackers. How far are criminals willing to go to get dirty money and make themselves known to the whole world? What new tricks will the scammers use? One of the latest scams was the sale of a huge number of databases. Advertisements appeared on the relevant portals in which hackers offer to purchase terabytes of stolen information. Of course, for cryptocurrency. How do scammers work and why is this event so much worse than it seems? Let’s figure it out.
Context and theory
Our regular readers know that first we always understand the general points, and only then go into details. And today we will again recall the basic terms and tell you that unknown hackers have marked about 250 thousand databases on hidden forums. Stolen logs are written in SQL; they are ordinary databases, manually compiled from millions of dishonestly obtained information. Therefore, anyone who wants to simply transfer funds to fraudsters can also get access to information. The average price tag for the database is about $ 530, that is, 0.03 BTC. In total, ads from sellers are measured at $ 132 million. These are colossal sums that can be obtained if paying buyers are interested in information.
What are we dealing with? With a variety of information that is on users’ computers. These are personal correspondence, photos, and passwords from accounts and bank accounts. It is possible that the scammers also have more confidential data at their disposal, which have not yet been made public. But how exactly do digital criminals work? How to avoid becoming a victim of deceivers and swindlers? This is our next section.
How hackers work
The specific group that sells the stolen data operates under a strict and well-planned system. Using a special script, hackers attack the victim’s server by downloading the files of interest and then deleting them from the user’s computer. To attract attention, hackers leave a note in which they set the ransom price and the payment deadline – 9 days. After this time, the information ceases to be the property of hackers and is put up for auction in Tor. Using this connection to the dark side of the Internet, hackers post their findings to local marketplaces. To avoid detection, hackers attack from 11 different addresses. Computers appear to be located somewhere in Europe. Using this scheme, hackers are guaranteed to get their money. And if not from the owner of the data, then from the buyers of this product in the corresponding segment of the Internet.
The group became more active on January 24, and today experts from leading institutions admitted that the approach used has no analogues. Thus, each of the 5 million servers connected to the Internet can be compromised. Hackers know no boundaries; in the past year alone, they managed to carry out about half a million public attacks. Computers in 45 countries were affected. Some attacks have even been accompanied by ransom payments from government officials. A similar thing happened with the leadership of the state of Pennsylvania, which paid the attackers $ 500,000. In Bitcoins. And this is for the right to use their own equipment again, which has been hacked.
Conclusion
But how can you save your own money in such a difficult time? The answer is universal – stay alert. Be attentive, exploring the vastness of the Web, follow all the news of the world of Blockchain and technologies with us. We publish only high-quality and interesting material. Thanks for attention. Good luck!
