At least 93.7 billion cookies are being sold on the dark web, posing a significant risk to user privacy and security. According to researchers at NordStellar, they affect all major online platforms run by large tech corporations.
At least 93.7 billion cookies are being sold on the dark web, posing a significant risk to user privacy and security. According to researchers at NordStellar, they affect all major online platforms run by large tech corporations.
Tracking cookies have been a staple of web businesses for decades. The technology is so pervasive that even Google has been unable to completely “kill” it and replace it with modern alternatives. The company tried to phase out third-party cookies and introduce its Privacy Sandbox technology as the next big breakthrough in web advertising. Ultimately, the corporation failed because cookies are still necessary to sell products and data online.
Cookies remain and can be hijacked by sophisticated malware such as Redline, Vidar, CryptBot, and LummaC2.
The nearly 94 billion cookies discovered by NordStellar researchers could provide a lot of juicy information for cybercriminals, including passwords and other authentication tokens. In addition, the stolen tracking cookies contain a wealth of personal information, such as usernames and email addresses, country, city, gender, age, and more, TechSpot reports .
Criminals can use this data to attempt fraud, identity theft, and social engineering. These stolen cookies have become a threat to both personal security and privacy, researchers say.
They come from major online platforms, with Google, YouTube, and Microsoft in the top three. The list of targets includes social media, e-commerce platforms, collaboration tools (Canva), and more.
Most cookies come from Windows devices, as most malware operations target the Microsoft PC platform.
