Personal data has now become the most valued form of commodity. It is often traded on black markets and is called the deep web. The deep web can be accessed using tools and acts as a hub for all the cyber-criminals who trade your illegally obtained private information on the dark web. It is more essential now than ever to secure your existence from a breach that might ruin your financial life or steal your identity. In this extensive guide, let’s discuss ten signs that show your personal data has been stolen and is now on the web.
Doxing, the publication of private or identifying information about an individual online, is a standard dark web practice. Much of it is directed solely at public or business figures for a variety of reasons, including politics, hacktivism, or wanton vandalism.
A surefire clue as to whether a corporation or government has suffered a data leak is that the name of a company VIP will begin to appear on the dark web or on sites like Pastebin. The information might be credit card numbers, financial details, technical data, or private letters.
Stolen payment card data booms in the dark web underground, with single cards selling for between $5 and $20. Working with new card information is so profitable that sellers can often update their products on a daily basis.
If you ever find unknown or unrecognized charges and purchases on your credit or debit card statement, your payment card data may have been compromised and sold on the dark web.
On the dark web lurk postings for data breaches. But hawked alongside information that has been stolen are in-depth treatises on how to hack an enterprise: detailed guides that spell out weaknesses in security practices and systems, all done with the aim of preaching breach techniques even as the target brand is catapulted across the criminal community.
If you start to see black market guides or tutorials that apply specifically to your organisation and its security policies and procedures, it could mean that someone’s selling your data and your organisation’s data, and it’s being actively traded on the black market.
The possible consequences of a leak are pretty serious: revealing a company’s proprietary source code makes its intellectual property available to competitors, for one, or it provides a window through which attackers can scrutinize the code for vulnerabilities that they can then exploit.
The fact that tips-off knowledge about leakage is just the first stage of this reintegration, the stage in which your data assets are being openly traded on the public Web (via GitHub, Pastebin, underground forums, etc).
Not being able to access your accounts when you want is a vulnerability indicator: perhaps someone has just broken in and is using or selling your login information without your consent.
If you suddenly see alerts about password reset attempts on accounts you didn’t initiate or experience problems logging in with your information, your personal information may have been stolen, and criminals may be exploiting it without your permission.
Also, check out our previous blog to learn the Top 10 Dark Web Search Engines.
Countless websites and apps now feature security measures such as the identification of suspicious account activity, where a user might be told that someone is trying to access their account on a device or in a place they don’t regularly use.
Similarly, unexpected changes to your profile, for instance, a credit line or loan appearing on your credit report, could provide confirmation that your data has been compromised and is being used without your knowledge.
People who perpetuate crimes online sometimes use malicious computer software (malware) to enter computers without permission. Using techniques that include phishing emails and drive-by downloads, malware can surreptitiously enter your computer and steal your personal information.
If your software antivirus flags malware, that’s a good time to do something and to presume that by now your personal information in the computer is in the wrong hands.
Cyber attackers often use social engineering. These tactics can be quite convincing: the best way to uncover a scam is if your friends or family tell you that they received a message from you asking for personal information or to send money.
So, if your friends and family start to frown over those messages — or express some concern — this could mean that a private data breach has occurred, resulting in someone impersonating you, probably endangering your contacts as well.
Also, check out our previous blog to learn the Top 10 Dark Web Forums.
A good sign that your data may have been compromised is financial transactions you’re unaware of or when someone else opens an account in your name or takes out a loan without you knowing. You might open your credit card bill to be greeted by a list of unusual names from companies you don’t recognize: your identity has been stolen. Sometimes, innocents will have to pay the price for the criminal behavior of others.
If one of these red flags appear, the goal should be to limit damage and to protect your stability and reputation.
Blackouts that hit your accounts out of nowhere or repeated login attempts from strange locations might suggest somebody else is already using your password. Hackers will often change passwords and other security settings to lock users out for good, claiming ownership of the account – so that, once inside, they can continue to scavenge your personal and financial details for as long as they wish. Watching your accounts’ movements and promptly blocking unauthorized intrusions will help you mitigate the damage inflicted on your privacy and finances.
As the nature of cybersecurity changes, making efforts to secure your most personal information is now more important than ever. A good preventive measure is signing up for cybersecurity services such as Stateside’s dark web monitoring, in which security companies like ThreatMon scan the dark web for indications that your information has been compromised.
With our dark web monitoring service, you will be informed right away if your information has been used to establish an account on the dark web. That can buy you precious time to minimize the damage before the bad guys strike.
In conclusion, the dark web adds an extra dimension to cyber crimes and data breaches, which can’t currently be easily curbed. This means we must be careful and aware of psychological warning signs to avoid falling into such traps. Knowledge is power. Being aware and knowing their real threat can help you take appropriate steps to protect your personal information and avoid falling into criminals’ nets.
