The dark web is a scary place, and the last thing you want is to have personal information about yourself for scammers to access. Recently, The United States Department of Justice revealed that Genesis Market, a criminal market website selling access to more than 80 million account access credentials, including usernames and passwords, was eventually seized and 119 site users were arrested. This illicit platform has enabled cybercriminals to prey on individuals, businesses, and governments around the world, causing massive damage.
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What did Genesis Market do?
Genesis Market has been around since 2018 and was a huge resource for hackers as it would allow them to specifically search for information to target their next victims. This included anything from social media to bank account credentials and could also target user location
The website would operate by selling these credentials and personal information, and it also sold access to cookies and users’ browser fingerprinting. By doing so, hackers could bypass additional protections users might have had on their accounts, such as two-factor authentication. Genesis was even able to give away a browser extension that would allow hackers to fake a victim’s fingerprint while using their login cookies to access an account.
How can I check if my information has been sold on the dark web?
To check if your information has been sold on the dark web, you can go to haveibeenpwned.com and enter your email address in the search bar. The website will search to see what data about you is available. You may even have already received an email from the website stating that some of your data has been stolen, and you should check this immediately if this is the case.
Recently, the United States Department of Justice disclosed that Genesis Market, a criminal marketplace website selling access to over 80 million account access credentials, including usernames and passwords, was eventually seized and 119 of the site’s users were arrested. (CyberGuy.com)
LEARN MORE: HOW YOUR BROWSER COULD BE EXPOSED TO A SECURITY RISK
What if my data has been stolen?
You must first sign out of all your accounts on every web browser on your computer. Once you’ve done that, you should completely delete your cookies and caches. If you don’t know how to proceed, follow the steps below.
How to Clear Cache and Cookies in Chrome
- Open Chromium
- Click it 3 vertical dots in the upper right corner
- Select More tools and then Clear browsing data
- Choose the time interval at the top. To delete everything, select All the time
- Check the boxes next to Cookies and other site data And Cached images and files
- Click on Erase data
How to Clear Cache and Cookies in Safari
- Open Safari
- At the top left of your screen, click Safari then click Settings
- In the box that appears, click Privacy
- Click on Manage website data
- Select all websites listed, then click remove all
- A pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm that you want to delete all data stored by websites on your computer. Faucet Delete now
- Click on Do
YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW MUCH MONEY HACKERS GET FROM STEALING YOUR DATA
How to Clear Cache and Cookies in Microsoft Edge
- open edge
- Select Settings and more in the upper right corner of your browser window
- Select Settings
- Click on Privacy, Research and Services
- Below Clear browsing dataClick on Clear browsing data now
- Select Choose what to erase
- Below Time intervalchoose a time slot from the list
- Select Cookies and other site datathen select clear now
How to Clear Cache and Cookies in Firefox
- Open Firefox
- In the Toolbar at the top of the screen, click firefox and select Preferences
- Select the Privacy and Security sign
- Go to the Cookies and site data section
- Click it Erase data… button. The Clear Data dialog box will appear
- Click on Clear
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If your data has been stolen, you must first log out of all your accounts on every web browser on your computer. Once you have done this, you should completely clear your cookies and caches. (CyberGuy.com)
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Invest in moving services
Although no service promises to delete all of your data from the internet, having a deletion service is ideal if you want to continuously monitor and automate the process of deleting your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time. period.
See my tips and top picks for opting out of the internet by going to CyberGuy.com/Delete
A deletion service is ideal if you want to continuously monitor and automate the process of deleting your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time. (CyberGuy.com)
Have good antivirus software on all your devices
Once you’ve completed these steps, the best way to protect yourself from a data breach is to install virus protection on all your devices.
It is possible to prevent hackers from accessing your devices if you have good antivirus software installed. Having anti-virus software on your devices will prevent you from clicking on potential malicious links that could install malware on your devices, giving hackers access to your personal information.
See my expert opinion on the best virus protection for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices by visiting CyberGuy.com/LockUpYourTech  
Having anti-virus software on your devices will prevent you from clicking on potential malicious links that could install malware on your devices, giving hackers access to your personal information. (CyberGuy.com)
change your password
If your password has been compromised, be sure to change it immediately.
My tips and the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2023 can be found here.
Kurt’s main takeaways
Taking down the Genesis Market and the criminals associated with it was a huge win for law enforcement. However, other criminal market websites are still available on the dark web. They want to sell your personal information, which allows hackers to bypass security measures. It is important that you check to see if your information is on Genesis and take steps such as logging out of accounts, clearing cache and cookies, and installing anti-virus software to protect yourself. Also, investing in deletion services can help monitor and delete personal information from the Internet.
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Have you found yourself on the dark web? What steps have you taken to remove your information from these sites? Let us know how it goes for you. Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com/Contact
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