As the world transitions and immerses itself into the digital world, cybersecurity will be one of the biggest concerns. Hacking courses, leaked nudes, and the usage of AI in scams are some of the most discussed topics on dark web forums.
Experts from NordVPN, recently conducted an analysis to try and predict what the cybersecurity risks would look like in 2024. As a part of their research they decided to look into the biggest dark web forum to find out what the most discussed topics were regarding risks surround cybersecurity.
CTO at NordVPN Marijus Briedis said, Taking this year’s approach helped us realize that regular internet users, are often attacked by amateur hackers who are still developing their craft. They can also cause a lot of harm to their unsuspecting victims and users need to be informed about their plans.”
Below you will find the top five predictions made by cybersecurity experts at NordVPN based on what hackers talk about online.
Leaked nudes will be trending on the dark web
The most commented threads on the forum included those about leaked nudes from OnlyFans, Instagram, and other content-sharing platforms. Threads about leaked nudes received almost 1,850 comments and were among the top 20 most commented threads on the forum.
To avoid having pictures leaked online, Warmenhoven recommends abstaining from sending photos through social media and using encrypted cloud solutions when sharing photos.
AI will be there to help hackers
Hacked ChatGPT accounts and tutorials on using AI for attacks are very popular amongst hackers. This not only means that AI users are on the radar, but hackers are learning how to use AI to increase the capacity of their work and make their job easier, quicker, and more effective.
The number of amateur hackers will be growing
Every tenth post on the forum was about learning how to execute some kind of attack. Among the most commented threads were: “How to dox,” “List of useful resources for pentesters and hackers”, “How to hack WhatsApp of your friend by sending a single ink,” “How to instantly crack TikTok accounts easily,” “WiFi hacking course,” and others.
This means that hackers are sharing their knowledge and we can expect the number of amateur hackers to rise together with the number of attacks they execute. So users should be even more serious about their cybersecurity education and keep themselves updated about the latest attacks.
Customer data will be selling like hot cakes
Researchers found that around 55% of discussion threads were around leaked customer data, such as social media credentials, driver licenses, addresses, emails, and other bits of personal information. This means that hackers are still after vulnerable personal data and no user is safe from hacking.
Biometric authentication won’t be the answer
Many platforms that care about the security of their users now provide the ability to authenticate biometrically. However, the research showed that hackers have already learned how to bypass some of the biometric authentication methods, such as the selfie verification that some crypto platforms use. The thread explaining how to bypass selfie verification collected more than 200 comments.
One of the latest developments in the sphere has been passkeys technology. A passkey is a pair of related keys: public and private. Public and private keys do not work without one another and therefore are useless to hackers. Moreover, the passkey on your gadget (private key) cannot be accessed without biometric identification (of the device’s owner) or a PIN, which adds extra protection.
