Data breach | Thousands of workers' details sold on the dark web

Cybersecurity experts have warned that thousands of employee e-mail addresses and passwords linked to companies in the Tayside area of Scotland are being traded by anonymous criminals on the dark web.

Security expert M3 Networks, which is based in the Scottish town of Perth, conducted an in-depth investigation into 600 businesses in the area, and discovered nearly 24,000 breaches – an average of 39 per company within the area.

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The data was stolen by criminals belonging to an un-moderated section of the internet accessed by open-source software such as TOR, which is primarily used as a lawless commerce trading platform. In recent months, various revelations about specific uses for the dark web have been revealed, including a recruitment ring that aims to hire coders for illegal software building.

“The dark web is where your stolen password and personal data ends up after a data breach. It doesn’t need to be your own system – any website you use can be breached and your password can be leaked as a result,” commented m3 Networks Technical Director Mr Lamb, in conversation with The Courier.