A data broker (also known as an information product company) is an organization that makes money by collecting your personal information, analyzing it, and licensing it out to be used by other companies for things like marketing purposes.
Data providers gather data from many different sources to create a profile of who you are. This profile includes things like your interests, hobbies, demographics, and even the products you use. Generally, data broker companies only deal with customers to collect information. A few of the top data brokerage companies are Epsilon, Acxiom, and Experian, but there are many data brokerages worldwide that make a hefty profit from aggregating and distributing consumers’ personal data.
Read more…
Source: McAfee
Related:
- UK Elections watchdog targeted by cyber attack which left voters’ details exposed
August 8, 2023
Details of tens of millions of voters could have been accessed by hackers who targeted the elections watchdog. The Electoral Commission revealed on Tuesday it was targeted by a cyber attack which allowed “hostile actors” to access electoral registers. The hack allowed the attackers to access reference copies of electoral registers which contained the name and addresses ...
- Ukraine-Linked Group Claims It Hacked Website Of Moscow Property Registration Bureau
August 7, 2023
A Ukraine-linked hacker group said on Telegram on August 7 that it had hacked the website of Moscow’s municipal property registration bureau (MosgorBTI) overnight, saying “the information about state officials, politicians, military, and special services officers who support the Ukraine war had been handed to Ukraine’s defense forces.” The MosgorBTI’s website has yet to comment on ...
- FBI Investigating Cyber Attack Affecting Connecticut Hospitals
August 4, 2023
“Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. recently experienced a data security incident that has disrupted our operations,” said Nina Kruse, ECHN’s vice president for communications and public affairs. “Upon learning of this, we took our systems offline to protect them and launched an investigation with the help of third-party cybersecurity specialists,” she said. The FBI’s field office in New ...
- Capita shares plummet 11 per cent as contractor reveals cyber attack cost £25m
August 4, 2023
Capita shares in slumped 11.4 per cent on Friday morning after it said a recent data breach could cost it up to £25m. The government contractor, which provides data and IT outsourcing processes, said this morning it expects a major cyber attack in March could cost it £20-25m, as an investigation nears its close. Read more… Source: City ...
- Estonian state continuing to collect personal telecoms data
August 4, 2023
Obtaining data from telecoms firms in the course of criminal investigations in Estonia still goes on, despite stricter limits put in place by the European Union from last year. In April 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found that the wholesale storage of personal data, even in the interests of fighting crime, runs counter to ...
- FBI was using advanced hacking software despite White House ban
August 2, 2023
Since November of 2021, US-based companies have been barred from doing business with the NSO Group, an Israeli research firm behind some of the most advanced hacking tools the tech world has ever seen. Come to find out, a New York Times investigation from this past April revealed that a US government agency was actively using ...