Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

The value of hacked data

Some data is worth more to hackers than credit card numbers.

The biggest U.S. health insurer, Anthem Blue Cross, revealed Thursday that hackers obtained data on up to 80 million current and former customers. The compromised information includes Social Security numbers, email addresses and birthdates as well as such employee data as income.

Given the steady stream of data hacks – whether it’s Target, Home Depot or Anthem – how much is all this data worth?

Unlike previous high-profile hacks, the Anthem hackers did not take credit card numbers. But personal data, like Social Security numbers, can be even more valuable on the so-called “Dark Web,” the invisible part of the Internet you can’t find on Google.

 

Related Topics

Latest Episodes

View All Shows
  • Marketplace Morning Report
    2 hours ago
    7:04
  • This Is Uncomfortable
    7 hours ago
    4:41
  • Marketplace Tech
    7 hours ago
    7:47
  • Make Me Smart
    3 days ago
    25:16
  • Marketplace
    3 days ago
    25:41
  • Million Bazillion
    a month ago
    32:45