What’s the asking price for your online identity? Experts say they finally know.
Harvesting a few of your credit cards, your Social Security number, your billing address, and even the names of your children now has an exact price tag, almost like an Amazon shopping list. According to a study from Privacy Central, it’s exactly $1,170 on the dark web.
Bargain prices
Like an auction site or Craigslist, the dark web is a shopper’s paradise for hackers. Netflix accounts, an Uber login, and access to your AirBnB credentials come cheap at $10 a pop. Your Gmail login? That sells for about a dollar. PayPal account? $247.
Now here’s the truly bad news: experts say the list of items for sale is only going to grow—and become more affordable.
You see, web hackers tend to offer package deals, even ones that include your mother’s maiden name as a throw-in. These listings are getting more sophisticated, and the prices are driven by recent data breaches, which means they’re dropping.
Accounts for paid streaming services are easily available. Credit cards typically sell for $5 to $20 per card, but when large databases go up for sale on the dark web—after a major breach, say—records drop to under a dollar apiece.
Experts mention prices as low as $100 for two credit cards, or $350 for 10 cards. And any attacker with $40 can get you access to your social media accounts.
The main takeaway, of course, is to reduce your risk by paying heed to the basics:
- Create strong passwords.
- Never share them.
- Stay on top of all financial statements and your credit report.
- If you suspect your info has been compromised, change your logins immediately.
© Good Sense Security — June 2021