Private data of 7 million Indian cardholders leaked

In a shocking development, the personal data of 7 million Indian credit/debit card holders has reportedly been leaked over the Dark Web 

The leak, detected by Internet Security Researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia, includes a database of Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) of over 5 lakh cardholders. 
 

The leaked data, screenshots of which have been shared by Rajaharia, is from the period between 2010 and 2019 and exposes details like the cardholder's name, phone number, PAN card number, income and email ID.
 

The revelation comes even as cyber experts have warned that 2021 could be the year of 'online extortion'

2021: The Year of Online Extortion
 

Cyber protection company Acronis has warned that 2021 will bring aggressive cybercrime activity as criminals pivot their attacks from data encryption to data exfiltration. 
 

In its Acronis Cyberthreats Report 2020, the firm has noted the growing trend of cybercriminals trying to maximize their financial gain.
 

In 2020, more than 1,000 companies globally had their data leaked following a ransomware attack. 
 

They expect this trend to accelerate during the next 12 months to surpass encryption as the primary attack tactic for these cybercriminals
 

Experts have also suggested that Ransomware will look for new victims, become more automated. Rather than continuing to cast a wide net, ransomware attackers will focus on targets that provide a bigger return on their efforts. 
 

Breaking into one network to steal data from several companies is more profitable than attacking individual organizations.