With the increasing popularity of online services such as banking, streaming, shopping, and the like, it’s no surprise that cybercrime is also booming. And where is it easier to get illegal things like drugs, weapons, stolen accounts, and data other than on the Dark Web? Thanks to Tor, cybercriminals can go about their illegal business without the risk of getting caught or punished.
But what data is sold on the Dark Web and how much is it worth? Answering these questions is the recently published Dark Web Price Index put together by a study done by PrivacyAffairs.com. From credit card data to Paypal logins to fake passports – there’s a little bit of everything for sale.
Dark Web prices for Paypal, credit cards, and social media accounts
A look at the PrivacyAffair’s Dark Web Price Index can give you a good idea of what happens after a data breach. The leaked information collected from various hacks can be found there for sale – and often at bargain prices. For example, the index reveals:
- A cloned credit card with pin is available for around $20
- Credit card data costs $80 – 120 depending on the bank account balance
According to the site, business is booming for stolen IDs and credit cards – each of the more than 9,000 active vendors are reporting sales in the several thousands of transactions this past year.
In addition to credit card data, you can also buy Paypal and social media logins and likes:
- PayPal accounts cost $150 depending on the available credit
- You can get a Facebook account for $45
- A Gmail account costs $65
- 1000 followers and likes for various social media platforms (Twitter, Tik-Tok, Instagram, etc.) cost between $1-10
Knowing that likes are being bought and sold, you might want to think twice about how much faith you put into the big numbers of likes and followers a social media account has – including those of influencers.
Malware for sale
Unfortunately, personal data, credit cards, and social media accounts are not the only thing for sale on the Dark Web. It turns out, malware is also easily available. Those who purchase malware do so in order to install it on compromised systems and use it for activities like cryptomining or for accessing account details. The price of malware on the Dark Web depends on the target country and the quality of the malware. Prices start as low as $45 and can go up to $5500. But no matter the cost, it’s seems to be almost always a positive return on investment for cybercriminals. According to PrivacyAffairs, a hacker can steal thousands of dollars per 1000 installations.
Three tips to protect yourself and your accounts
As you can see, it’s increasingly important for you to safeguard and protect your online life just as much as you do your offline one. This may seem like an insurmountable hurdle, but with the right software and the adherence to some rules, it’s not that difficult. Here are three simple tips that can help keep you and your data safe from hackers:
1. Never give out confidential information when asked for it by email or on the phone. Employees of reputable companies would never ask for passwords, credit card numbers, or similar.
2. Avoid insecure and public Wi-Fi networks. If you still want or need to use one, it is best to connect via a VPN and follow our guide on the topic.
3. Use a password manager. It will help you to create a secure password for each of your accounts and save it so that you will never forget it again.
