In today’s time, data has become as important as oil was once upon a time. Today there is a competition among companies all over the world for data. Today, the more data one has, the more powerful he is. After the advent of AI, the need for data has become greater because AI models are trained only with the help of data. While governments and companies collect data through many valid methods, hackers and cyber criminals resort to many illegal methods to collect data and incidents like data leaks and data breaches occur. In today’s explainer, we will know why data leaks and why hackers need people’s data.
What is data leak?
If you are active on social media, you must have heard the word data leak many times. Many times such news comes out that the data of thousands and lakhs of users of a company has been leaked. Actually, data leak occurs when an internal party or source accidentally or unknowingly leaks sensitive information.
What is a data breach and how is it different from a data leak?
Many people consider data leak and data breach to be the same. The reason for this is that both these words are used interchangeably, but there is a big difference between the two. As we told that data leak usually happens due to mistake or accident by the company or organization, whereas data breach happens when any confidential or protected information is accessed or stolen without authorization.
How does data leak happen?
Weak infrastructure- The risk of data leakage increases due to weak infrastructure. If a system is not properly configured or maintained, it reduces the strength of the infrastructure. Many times, there is a risk of unauthorized access due to wrong settings or permissions. Changing a faulty component or delay in patching the software can also lead to data leakage.
Social engineering scam- Social engineering scams may be an external attack, but they are successful only when the target falls into their trap. Cyber criminals can break into a company’s network or system through social media, calls or emails.
Weak password- To stay safe in the digital world, it is very important to use a strong password. If a person or organization uses the same password in many places then it becomes easy to bypass it. Apart from this, sometimes the password is found out through other tricks also.
Stolen devices- Data can also be leaked from stolen laptops, storage devices, mobile phones and other devices. With the help of these devices, the network of any organization can be breached.
Shortcomings in the software- Data can also be at risk due to outdated software. Cybercriminals can access data by taking advantage of security flaws in old software.
old data- Many times, as a company grows bigger, along with its infrastructure upgrades, the system also changes. In such a situation, old data is not given special attention and there is a fear of it being exposed.
Why do cyber criminals steal your data?
Hacking and data theft is a big business for cyber criminals. They sell this data on the dark web in exchange for a huge amount. People buy this data on the dark web for many reasons including fraud, account takeover and ransom. Apart from this, stolen data is also used for unauthorized shopping from credit cards, taking loans and tax fraud. Many times, log-in details are stolen to gain access to online shopping platforms etc. In such cases, the target may have to suffer huge financial losses. Many times cyber criminals steal data to cause harm to a company or organization. For this, hackers gain access to the data by breaking into the company’s network or installing malware.
In what ways is data stolen?
fishing- In this, cyber criminals try to steal important information by sending fake messages or mails that look like real ones to their targets.
Malware- The target’s information is also stolen by installing malware on a network or device.
Weak password- Many times the target’s data is stolen by guessing weak or commonly used passwords.
data breach- By accessing a company’s database or network, sensitive information of its users is stolen.
social engineering- Hackers win the trust of the target by posing as a government or company official. Then with its help they extract personal information from the target.
Public Wi-Fi- There are less security layers on public Wi-Fi. Taking advantage of this, these criminals come between the user and the network and intercept the data.
Fake apps and websites- Many times hackers steal people’s personal information by creating fake apps and websites. People are brought to these websites and apps by giving attractive advertisements.
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