A study of Proton y Contella Intelligencetwo entities specialized in computer security, has revealed that 39 Spanish deputies and senators have suffered “leaks of their personal information on the dark web [dark web]”. The report, which avoids identifying the victims, indicates that the gaps have affected 6.3% of representatives, a lower percentage than that registered in the French Senate and Assembly (18%) and in Italy (14.9%). The worst unemployed were politicians in the United Kingdom, where the violations affected 68%.
The investigation has traced the dark web in search of the information that was offered in this space corresponding to all the deputies and senators of the chambers analyzed. This part of the network encompasses any part that is not indexed by traditional search engines, including sites that require authentication and private content. It accounts for 95% of the information on the network and is essential for confidential communications, banking or electronic commerce. But it also houses a subset called deep web (deep red), where anonymity facilitates any illegal transaction, including that of data that is then used for trading, exploiting vulnerabilities or extortion.
In the Spanish case, according to the report, the leaks have affected deputies (29) more than senators (10) and, in most cases, they were registered due to cases of phishinga type of scam to obtain data, passwords or account and card numbers through emails (also with SMS and messaging and network applications) that pretend to be from a trusted entity.
The report rules out that the leaked information contains “state secrets”, but it does contain private communications and other confidential data. Specifically, the information dumped on the dark web includes “14 passwords associated with compromised accounts of members of Congress and the Senate, nine of them in plain text,” when the recommendations point to the combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and special characters. . In the other countries analyzed, the keys revealed exceed one hundred. Proton reports that it has contacted the affected politicians.
“In today’s digital landscape, it is crucial to maintain good cyber practicesespecially among those who are at higher risk of cyberattacks. A single password breach can pose a serious threat to national security. Many underestimate their vulnerability, but the truth is that anyone can become a target, and politicians, due to their position, are fundamental targets,” explains Eamonn Maguire, account security manager at Proton.
He National Cybersecurity Institute (Incibe) recommends using web tools, such as Have i Been Pwnedwhich compile all data breaches and allow potentially affected email addresses or phone numbers to be identified.
Brands and services
Scammers, in addition to sensitive information, also look for access data to services from international brands such as Google, Facebook or Amazon. According to the cybersecurity company Kasperskyamong the Spanish entities with the most fraudulent access attempts is Banco de Santander, which has registered a 67% increase in this type of attacks during the first half of 2024 compared to the previous year. The study highlights that it is a generalized situation as an increase in attacks has been detected that almost doubles those recorded in past exercises.
Cybercriminals mainly tried to access credentials of users of services from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, DHL, PayPal, Mastercard, Apple, Netflix and Instagram. HSBC, eBay, Airbnb, American Express and LinkedIn also reported increases in attempted fraud.
“This year there has been a significant increase in attempts to phishing directed to Google. If a scammer gains access to a Gmail account, they can potentially access multiple services, making them a prime target. He phishing for Mastercard, which generally aims to steal money, has probably increased due to the proliferation of stores online false ones that claim to sell products and offer payment options supposedly with Mastercard,” says Olga Svistunova, security expert at Kaspersky.
The international cybersecurity company Check Point specifies that “90% of websites phishing They are only active on one day to complicate their detection and proliferate on holidays or coinciding with important product launches.”
The company agrees that the main vector of vulnerability is email, which carries “70% of malicious files.” The reason is that it is a common tool and one that is trusted by victims. Check Point estimates that the average number of attacks is 1,620 per week and that cybercriminals have published the details of more than 3,500 victim entities.
Work equipment in the hands of children
The lack of protection of devices used for teleworking also affects security, according to the study Working Parents of Cisco, which points out how 86% of 6,000 workers surveyed in 12 countries (including Spain) allow their children to use them at home without supervision and 41% provide them with passwords, which are also ineffective.
“At a time when more than two-thirds of connected home devices are shared among members of the household (75% compared to 65% two years ago), security best practices must be reinforced and activity monitored in all devices, managed or not,” says Ángel Ortiz, director of Cybersecurity at Cisco Spain.
“With unauthorized access by a child there is the additional risk of inadvertent sending or deletion of data through an open browser tab or email. The proliferation of device sharing is unlikely to stop. Security departments must mitigate this problem by adopting zero trust processes, canceling idle session time and working based on user needs,” adds Martin Lee, head of Cisco Talos for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
