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:
- Indonesia’s national health insurance scheme leaks at least a million citizens’ records
May 25, 2021
Indonesia’s government has admitted to leaks of personal data from the agency that runs its national health insurance scheme On May 20th Kominfo, Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, acknowledged it was aware of a post on notorious stolen-data-mart Raidforums offering to sell a million records leaked from the Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial (BPJS), an ...
- Air India cyber-attack: Data of millions of customers compromised
May 22, 2021
India’s national airline Air India has said a cyber-attack on its data servers affected about 4.5 million customers around the world. The breach was first reported to the company in February. Details including passport and ticket information as well as credit-card data were compromised. But Air India said security details for credit cards – CVV or CVC ...
- Conti ransomware gives HSE Ireland free decryptor, still selling data
May 20, 2021
The Conti ransomware gang has released a free decryptor for Ireland’s health service, the HSE, but warns that they will still sell or release the stolen data. Ireland’s HSE, the country’s publicly funded healthcare system, and the Department of Health were attacked by the Conti ransomware gang last Friday. Read more… Source: Bleeping Computer
- Android apps exposed data of millions of users through cloud authentication failures
May 20, 2021
Researchers analyzing Android apps have discovered serious cloud misconfigurations leading to the potential exposure of data belonging to over 100 million users. In a report published on Thursday by Check Point Research, the cybersecurity firm said no less than 23 popular mobile apps contained a variety of “misconfigurations of third party cloud services.” Cloud services are widely ...
- How Myanmar’s military moved in on the telecoms sector to spy on citizens
May 19, 2021
In the months before the Myanmar military’s Feb. 1 coup, the country’s telecom and internet service providers were ordered to install intercept spyware that would allow the army to eavesdrop on the communications of citizens, sources with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters. The technology gives the military the power to listen in on calls, ...
- Ireland: ‘Wizard Spider’ cybercrime gang claim Health Service Executive attack
May 18, 2021
Hackers known as Wizard Spider are spinning a web of chaos since it launched a ransomware attack on the Health Service Executive last week. The Russian hackers have claimed responsibility for the most serious ever cyberattack on Ireland’s critical infrastructure. The group, who are seeking ransom of up to €20 million in cryptocurrency, are not motivated by ...