The Time is Now to Limit Russian Hacker Access to Publicly Available PII

Although the launch of ContiLeaks and the information revealed there didn’t slow the Russian Hacker gang down, it did provide everyone here at DeleteMe who is dedicated to protecting our customers’ privacy with some important validation about how personally identifiable information (PII), easily searchable on the open web, is being used by hackers.  

The transcripts and source code from inside Conti cite the use of open-source intelligence gathering for finding “information on victim organizations from both the target’s own website as well as popular online data sources.” Specifically mentioned in the leaked information were some widely known data broker sites.

Our business platform provides direct visibility into the prevalence of existing employee PII risk sources and the ongoing reduction of that exposure over time. According to our data, between 2019 and 2021 the amount of PII available online grew an astonishing 150%. 

As the Russia-Ukraine war escalates, we believe that Russian state-backed and other cybercriminals will take much greater latitude and implement indiscriminate cyber attacks against businesses, consumers, and public institutions. Attacks using the ever-growing body of online PII may be far-reaching, long-lasting, and come in a variety of unexpected forms. 

Who may be impacted?

• Companies who have stopped business or reduced their footprint in Russia
• Organizations that have been vocal critics of the Russian regime
• Utilities, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure
• Financial services, Government, and NGOs 
• Media organizations

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we know that DeleteMe’s mission to empower our customers with privacy is more relevant than ever. If you are worried about the myriad of ways your company may be impacted, we are here to help.