Is your email for sale on the dark web? The dark web has 600,000 New Zealand email accounts for sale for the reasonable price of $110, along with almost every other illegal and questionable service.
The dark web is a place where buyers can explore online marketplaces for hacked email, bank, PayPal, and other accounts, complete identities, or very questionable services – but what exactly is the dark web?
What is the dark web?
According to Forbes, the dark web is “a thriving, active underground network of information exchange that is in no way static and isn’t indexed by search engines, or visible to the casual users”
That means that you need a few special tools to venture there – mainstream dark web tools are free to download and it’s as simple as installing a dark web browser that’s designed to protect your privacy and anonymity when using the internet.
How big is the dark web?
The dark web is surprisingly small in comparison to the rest of the internet – researchers estimated that there are only 8,400 active websites – that’s about 0.005% of the size of the internet.Â
Dark web domains also tend to be unpredictable – accessible one day and gone the next due to questionable or illegal activity.
The most widely used dark web browser is used by around 2 million people every day, but only 1.5% of them are accessing hidden, or dark web, websites.
You Are Worth $1,010 on the Dark Web, New Study by Privacy Affairs Finds
What is for sale on the dark web?
The dark web marketplaces offer a range of illegal and questionable goods and services. The 2022 Privacy Affairs Price Index noted these popular products:
- 600 000 New Zealand email accounts cost $110.
- Your hacked Gmail account is worth $65.
- A hacked Facebook account is $45.
- A hacked Uber rider account is about $15, and a hacked driver account is worth $35.
- PayPal account details with a minimum $1,000 balance will be worth $20.
- Your credit card and information account information is between $17 and $120.
- And the most valuable information, your online identity is worth $1,010 – that includes bank logins & PINs.
August 2022 alone saw 4.5 million credit cards up for sale.
Miklos Zoltan, founder and CEO of Privacy Affairs, commented: “The digital world provides greater opportunities for hackers, scammers and fraudsters to take advantage of lax personal security online. The sheer volume of sales on the Dark Web and how cheap information should be a major concern. Everyone should be taking more precautions to protect their digital footprint.”
Is your email account compromised?
Find out if your emails accounts are breached using one of these free online services:
If your account appears in one of the lists above and you haven’t changed your password since the breach, make sure you change your password on as soon as possible, apply Multifactor Authentication if you can, and change your password on any other account where it’s been re-used.
How do I protect my accounts and my digital footprint?
Only use online services you trust.
To reduce the risk of your data being sold on the dark web, only visit and use reputable websites and services. You don’t know how secure online services are and how they use and store your data.
Monitor your online accounts for suspicious activity.
If you see any suspicious activity on your accounts or receive notifications of new logins, changes, or transactions on your account, jump into action right away.
Use a password manager.
When you use a password manager you won’t need to remember dozens of passwords and you can make passwords long and complex – the password manager will remember and, in most cases, fill in the password fields for you.
What can I do to protect my business?
Businesses are targeted through people – using phishing, malware and online scams. Enable your business to become cyber smart and by equipping your staff with practical, ongoing and relevant knowledge, tools and ideas through a robust security awareness programme.
