Why do hackers want your personal information?

One way hackers profit from stolen data is selling it in masses to other criminals on the dark web. These collections can include millions of records of stolen data. The buyers can then use this data for their own criminal purposes.

Identity theft is a crime in which the victim’s personal information is used to gain benefits at the victim’s expense. Many online services require users to fill in personal details such as full name, home address and credit card number. Criminals steal this data from online accounts to commit identity theft, such as using the victim’s credit card or taking loans in their name.

Criminals use stolen login credentials to break into accounts with payment details, such as shopping accounts. This is called account takeover, and it often leads to identity theft. If the hacker changes your pass­word, you will also lose access to your account. Account takeover can be costly if the hijacked account includes payment details.

With stolen personal information criminals can target victims with phishing attacks. In phishing scams victims are lured into giving information like credit card details willingly to criminals by masking the scam as some­thing legit. If criminals get access to very sensitive information, they can also extort the victim.

In addition to the personal problems stolen data can cause, it can also damage companies. With stolen data criminals can target company personnel to give sensitive information or to trick them to make payments. Such phishing attacks targeted against a specific individual are called spear-phishing. Criminals can also try to gain access to company networks to spy on them and infect them with malware.