African firms’ hacked data sold for $2,100

Hackers sell stolen data of African, Middle East and Turkey firms for $2,100 on the dark web, according to a report by Kaspersky.

The firm disclosed that the hackers did not only sell corporate data but also sold information necessary to access corporate networks to organise the attack. It stated that while the global average for access to corporate systems was in the range of $2,000 to $4,000, it was worth $2,100 in the META region.

It said, “Globally the average cost for access to corporate systems is in the range from $2,000 to $4,000, and in the META region the average price for access to corporate infrastructure is $2,100.

“This is relatively inexpensive compared to the possible damage to the targeted business. Such services are of prime interest to ransomware operators, whose profit may reach tens of millions of dollars a year. The Dark web is a common term that is used to describe different resources used by cybercriminals – forums, instant messengers, Tor websites, blogs, Pastebin and similar websites, and others.

“The Dark web is also a multifunctional platform and market for any need – from attack preparation to money withdrawal.”

According to the firm, once attackers gained access to an organisation’s sensitive data, they could then sell this access to other advanced cybercriminals, such as ransomware operators. It stated that the cost of initial access depended on the victim company’s revenue and price.

It said 42 per cent of all offers for the sale of access were cheaper than $1,000 globally, with a majority (75 per cent) of  offers gaining access through Remote Desktop Protocol, making the access for buyers easy.

Head of Security Services Analysis at Kaspersky, Yuliya Novikova, added, “While the Dark web seemed impossible to control in the past, now the situation is changing.

“Businesses can act to give fraudsters less opportunity to make dark web profits out of their data. Organisations should protect their data from being stolen with strong data security practices, including data encryption and educating employees on how to avoid accidentally giving cybercriminals access.

“Dark web monitoring should be considered as a threat intelligence data source for cybersecurity staff – CTI analysts, SOC analysts, and others. It will allow to immediately react on security incidents such as offers on selling access to the company and help to prevent data breaches.”