Hackers Passwords Exposed
- By Ginger Hill
- Jul 21, 2014
In a surprising turn of events, hackers are learning what it feels like to be the prey. A new search engine, Indexeus, offers an easy way to look up login credentials from over a hundred hacks, even the from the high-profile ones like Adobe and Yahoo. But, as with all “good” things, there is a catch: most of the indexed data is from hacked forums and websites that are popular to the underground hacker community. It’s an oxymoron, really, because Indexeus markets itself to the same people that it exposes.
Some may see Indexeus as a trap of sorts as the creators offer protection services. Simply “donate” $1 per record and all your sensitive information will be removed from the search engine. This type of “donation” is also known as “protection money.” Isn’t that the same as extortion? Perhaps, but the site does provide a disclaimer saying that its purpose is to create awareness and that they are not responsible for malicious use of their content or service.
The site’s founder, Jason Relinquo from Portugal, has apparently been compelled to change the policies, however, offering a free option to comply with the “Right to be Forgotten” ruling. But, isn’t the data being sold by Indexeus illegal in the first place?
I journeyed to the Indexeus via Google Chrome to do a little investigating of the “over 10 million, and constantly growing, entries at this very second” and found that access to any of the entries can be bought for 1 credit, worth $.50 each, with bitcoin.
Some things online are just plain fishy.
About the Author
Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.