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The Dark Web Becomes a Center for Illegal Information Sales

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A lot of credit card data, cryptocurrency accounts, and leaked mail accounts are now being sold on the Dark Web. In particular, with the advent of cryptocurrency, illegal information sales on the dark web have become more active, and the number of cryptocurrency exchanges and accounts hacked for the purpose of profiting from selling information is increasing.

There are many websites on the Dark Web that specialize in selling illegal information, and these websites sell information such as stolen credit card information, personally identifiable information, and vaccination certificates. With the emergence of websites that specialize in selling these illegal information, attempts to hack banks and financial companies for profit continue to increase.

Operators of websites that sell illegal information have been shown to take huge profits in return for selling the information. In particular, the management team of UniCC, a dark website that specializes in selling stolen credit card information, declared retirement after earning about $358 million.

As information leaks occur frequently on the Dark Web, law enforcement authorities are also arresting the operators of websites selling illegal information and shutting them down. However, due to the large number of websites, it is impossible to completely prevent information leakage. In particular, some websites ask for money in exchange for information, and then go into hiding, resulting in information leakage and fraud.

Various data is being sold on the dark web

A new survey from security firm Digital Shadows found that more than 15 billion logins were leaked to the Dark Web. Statistics show that 27% of stolen credit cards are still usable, and 20% of stolen credit cards available on the dark web are still usable.

If your card is stolen, you can not only lose money, but you can also leak personal information such as name, phone number, email address, country of residence, address, etc. In particular, 76% of stolen cards were debit cards, and unlike credit cards, funds are removed from the account immediately after payment, so it may be difficult to respond appropriately in case of financial damage.

As the sale of illegal information on the dark web is on the rise, cybercriminals are now targeting government data as well. According to security expert Miklos Zoltan, the size of the dark web data market is growing, and the types of data sold on the dark web have also diversified.

As illegal information sales on the dark web become active, famous cryptocurrency trading platforms and cryptocurrency wallets such as Kraken, Hotbit, and Upbit have also been leaked to hacking attacks. In particular, subscriptions to streaming sites such as Netflix and Disney Plus are also sold on the dark web, and more and more people are buying illegal subscriptions because buying a subscription on the dark web is cheaper than buying a full subscription.

The global market for illegal data sales

Currently, leaked data from various countries are being sold on the Dark Web, and the market for illegal data sales is also growing. In particular, in April 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice confiscated cryptocurrencies worth $34 million (about 44.6 billion won) from illegal data sellers, confirming the size of the illegal data sales market.

One of the reasons for the rapid growth of the market for illegal data sales on the dark web is that it has become possible to trade with cryptocurrencies. When paying with cryptocurrency, it is difficult to identify sellers and buyers, and many illegal data sellers use techniques such as chain hopping to launder one cryptocurrency into another through an illegal dark web remittance service. Avoiding tracking.

As the illegal data sales market grows, illegal activities due to the dark web are becoming a problem in Korea as well. In 2016, there was an incident in which drug buyers such as Choi and others purchased and administered drugs such as hemp, LSD, and cocaine from a dark website called Berry Market. There were also cases of sales.

Source: Plato Data Intelligence: Platodata.ai

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