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NordVPN analyzed 3.5M American payment cards found for sale on the dark web
A new study by the cybersecurity company NordVPN analyzed information from 3.5M American payment cards sold on the dark web. According to this research, the average price of an American payment card is $6.86.
This is a comparatively low price as opposed to the $7.01 global average — the most valued cards (at $11.54 on average) were from Denmark. The cheapest cards were from Argentina (2.39$ on average).
“American payment cards are cheap because there is a larger supply of US cards available on the dark web. The country’s card penetration, sizable population, and strong economy makes it a very appealing target for criminals. With a significant number of American cards available, competition among sellers drives down the prices to attract buyers,” says Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity advisor at NordVPN.
The US was the most affected country with 3.5M payment cards found hacked
3.5M out of 6M payment card details found by researchers for sale belonged to Americans. The second most affected nation was India, with the data of 218,053 cards discovered by researchers for sale on the dark web. Finally, 164,143 hacked payment cards belonged to people from the UK.
Out of 3.5 million analyzed American payment cards, 1.6 million were debit cards, and 1.2 million were credit cards.
More than a half (1,787,510) of all the discovered payment cards were Visa, followed by Mastercard (887,342) and American Express (299,879).
Of American cards, 76% were hacked without brute force
“In the past, experts linked payment card fraud to brute force attacks — when a criminal tries to guess a payment card number and CVV in order to use their victim’s card. However, 76% of the cards we found during our research were sold alongside the email and home addresses of their victims, which are impossible to brute force. We can therefore conclude that they were stolen using more sophisticated methods, such as phishing and malware. However, this also means that informed users have a less chance of being affected,” says Adrianus Warmenhoven.
He has provided the following tips to help users feel more secure online.
● Use impenetrable passwords: Different passwords for each account are the best way to go and store your passwords in an encrypted password manager, such as NordPass. Make sure your passwords consist of at least 20 letters, numbers, and symbols.
● Download your bank’s app: Use it to track your money, paying particular attention to any unusual deductions. Some apps will notify you of every transaction in real time — just make sure to look.
● Respond to data breaches: Change your username and password immediately if a company informs you that your details were involved in a data breach. If you’ve used the same one elsewhere, change it there too.
● Use anti-malware software: Anti-malware software (such as NordVPN’s Threat Protection) will ensure that you do not download malicious files to your device and will protect you from info-stealing viruses.
Methodology
The data was compiled in partnership with independent researchers specializing in cybersecurity incident research. They evaluated eight key marketplaces on the dark web to retrieve the details of over six million cards. The data NordVPN received from these third-party researchers did not contain any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual (such as names, contact information, or other personal information). The study did not determine the exact number or analyze the entirety of payment card details sold on the whole of the dark web — NordVPN only examined the set of statistical data provided by independent researchers.
After receiving the statistical information, NordVPN researchers analyzed it and created the risk index to evaluate the data objectively.
The full methodology can be found here: https://nordvpn.com/research-lab/6-million-stolen-credit-cards-analyzed/
ABOUT NORDVPN
NordVPN is the world’s most advanced VPN service provider, used by millions of internet users worldwide. NordVPN provides double VPN encryption and Onion Over VPN and guarantees privacy with zero tracking. One of the key features of the product is Threat Protection, which blocks malicious websites, malware during downloads, trackers, and ads. NordVPN is very user friendly, offers one of the best prices on the market, and has over 5,000 servers in 60 countries worldwide. For more information: nordvpn.com.
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