Unmasking data thieves, their motivation and dark marketplace

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

cybersecurity incidents. Who is behind the alarming spate of personal data breaches, and what drives their motivation?

Several high-profile breaches have come to light, exposing the personal information of thousands of individuals. The incidents have targeted a range of sectors, including banking, healthcare, and ecommerce, raising concerns about the vulnerability of sensitive data in the digital age.

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On October 15, Resecurity, an American cybersecurity firm, made a troubling revelation: the personally identifiable information (PII) of 815 million Indian citizens, encompassing Aadhaar numbers and passport details, was being peddled on the dark web. In a blog post, the company revealed that threat actors were offering to sell this comprehensive data for $80,000, emphasising that the information on offer was indeed valid.

The alleged source of this data, as claimed by the threat actors involved, was the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Notably, the ICMR has faced a barrage of cyber attack attempts, with a staggering 6,000 incidents reported in the previous year alone.

Personally Identifiable Information comprises details that, when used either independently or in conjunction with other pertinent data, can pinpoint and identify an individual.

This includes direct identifiers like passport information and quasi-identifiers, which, when combined with additional information, facilitate the successful recognition of an