8.7B Identity Records on Surface, Deep, Dark Webs in 2017

Threat intelligence firm 4iQ detected and verified more than 3 billion identity records curated from 8.7 billion raw records in 2017. The company today released its 2018 Identity Breach Report, which digs into the details of nearly 3,000 breaches it discovered last year.

As the quantity of breaches has increased each year, so has the number of records exposed in each one. 4iQ collected its data using "automated crawlers and subject matter experts" tasked with monitoring the surface web, social media, black markets, underground communities, and the Deep and Dark Webs. Data is from open sources and exposed to threat actors.

4iQ points out two reasons for the 182% increase in raw identity records discovered by its team between 2016 and 2017. The first is growth in the number and size of breaches affecting personal data, including usernames, passwords, and other confidential information. Within underground communities, these types of breaches made up 44% of the 8.7B record total.

The second is the growth in accidental record exposures that commonly stem from poor security measures, which leave data open to third parties. These slip-ups led to the exposure of 4.9B raw identity records in 2017, researchers report.

Read more details and check out the report here.