Atlas CEO, Ben Dynkin featured in Sociable on the Motives of Cyber Criminals
In the majority of cases, data breaches end up being leaked or sold online. However, Benjamin Dynkin, CEO of Atlas Cybersecurity, told The Sociable, “While many criminals do try to leak and sell records on the dark web, several high-profile breaches have not been leaked or sold.
Citing two of the highest profile data breach incidents, the Equifax data breach, which happened in 2017, and the attack on the Office of Personal Management (OPM) of June 2015, he says:
“In both of these cases, criminals got access to very sensitive information. In the case of Equifax, financial information, and in the case of OPM, clearance records and personnel files. However, they never leaked or sold these records, likely keeping them for other, nefarious, purposes like blackmail, espionage, etc.”
The Equifax fiasco exposed the personal information of roughly half the US population, while OPM released information about a Chinese state security breach of its computer system, which compromised the data of 4 million Americans.
The cost of these records can vary greatly, from a few dollars for a social security number to hundreds of dollars for a medical record or passport. Additionally, many records have a limited time of value, thus criminals try to package large breaches together to be moved quickly.
Read the full article here.