For $15 a Hacker Gets a Ton of Info About You!

Scary

Cruising through Wired I saw a brief how hackers can spend as little as $15 to get all your private information from a credit bureau. Wired got their information from 404media.co which details how these big data collectors absorb all your data then in-turn sell it.

Not everybody has the same security and privacy controls thus your data ends up in the hands of the unscrupulous. That is why data collection, even for the right reason drives me crazy as it is never deleted and its bought and sold by Big Biz, Big Tech and Big Brother like horse trading.

If you have a minute I recommend reading the full article on 404 Media.

Highlights

“Most Americans have very little choice but to provide their personal information to credit bureaus. Hackers have found a way into that data supply chain, and are advertising access in group chats used by violent criminals who rob, assault, and shoot targets.” – 404 Media

For Sale: Personal information that the credit bureaus Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion have on most adults in America via their credit cards is available.

For Sale: Bought by debt collectors, insurance companies, and law enforcement.

Easy for Bad Guys: The hacker tool offers exceptional power and requires little to no technical sophistication to obtain a victim’s sensitive data.

The Fix: The government needs to stop these companies from packaging and selling our personal information, and the senior executives that put profit over national security and Americans' safety should be punished accordingly. [It will never happen]

For Example: Reports about monetization of sensitive information—everything from the financial details of members of the U.S. military to lists of specific people experiencing dementia—are particularly worrisome when data is powering ‘artificial intelligence’ and other automated decision-making about our lives. [Crazy]

In Closing

Makes me sick to my stomach. Society should not be endlessly streaming their information online and those that are the keepers of our most private information need to be held to a higher standard with real penalties for selling, leaking, and disclosing our personal information and digital lives.