What’s Your Data Worth on the Dark Web? (Lock and Code S07E15)
What’s Your Data Worth on the Dark Web? (Lock and Code S07E15)
Source: Malwarebytes
Date Published: July 27, 2026
Twenty years ago, a British mathematician named Clive Humby popularized a phrase that came to describe data’s relationship with the entire global economy: “Data is the new oil.” Pithy as the phrase sounds, it is undeniably true. Data steers decisions at businesses of every size and has created entirely new industries built around its capture. For a select number of companies, data has produced billions–if not trillions–of dollars in value.
So how is it that, on the dark web, your stolen identity can be purchased for just 95 cents? This surprising discovery was made by a Malwarebytes researcher who spent 48 hours inside the dark web to investigate cybercrime.
Across a variety of forums and directories, the researcher found subscription plans for malware that steals information once implanted on a device. He also identified guides for deploying social engineering scams. Furthermore, he found people selling their services to build fake websites that trick individuals into handing over their usernames and passwords.
Moreover, the researcher discovered one of the dark web’s most traded commodities–personal data, packaged together about individual people, to help a cybercriminal commit identity fraud. These specific packages are known as “fullz.” For victims in the United States, a fullz contains a full name, Social Security Number, date of birth, address, and other personal details.