Data of 600,000 internet users in India being sold on Dark Web via bots: What are they and how they operate

Stolen data of around 5 million internet users globally is being sold online. Of these 600,000 are from India, making it the worst affected country, according to NordVPN. The other two most affected countries are Brazil and the US. The company is one of the biggest VPN service providers in the world. According to the study, the stolen data includes user logins, cookies, digital fingerprints, screenshots and other information. The average price for the digital identity of a person is pegged at $5.95, around Rs 490.
NordVPN claims that it tracked data for the past four years, ever since bot markets were launched in 2018. The hacking attack becomes more important as one of the most premiere hospitals in the country, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), recently suffered a cyber attack. Authorities believe it to be a ransomware attack.Trade-related activity and back-end operations at brokerages were disrupted due to a malware attack at the country’s largest depository, Central Depository Services (India) (CDSL), was disrupted last month as a result of similar cyber attack. In a first-of-its-kind report earlier this year, CERT-in said that it has observed a 51% increase in ransomware incidents in the country in the first half of the financial year.
How hackers use bots
Digital bots are becoming increasingly common and operate in fields such as customer service, search engine optimization, and entertainment. They help us book tickets, do grocery shopping, access government services and do lots more. But like all things tech, they too can be misused. As the report says, hackers sell malware bot logs on various bot markets. These bots once installed on the victim’s computer create stealer logs or documents.

They sniff through the computer and detect valuable information about the victim and the device. All the stolen data creates a person’s digital identity. For example, these bots steal credit card information or online banking credentials. They can blackmail the victim of exposing his private conversations, photos, and browsing history. Such information could also be used in social engineering schemes. Alternatively, attackers might delete or lock all of the victim’s accounts (such as Netflix, Spotify, or Steam.)
In India, education, healthcare, ISP/MSP, government & military sectors reported the highest number of weekly cyber attacks. Globally, ransomware attacks now affect one out of 40 organisations a week.