Approximately five million individuals worldwide have fallen victim to data theft and subsequent sale on the bot market, with India being the most severely impacted country, accounting for around 600,000 cases, as reported by NordVPN, one of the world’s largest VPN service providers. Bot markets serve as platforms where hackers can sell stolen data obtained through bot malware on victims’ devices.

NordVPN’s study, conducted by Nord Security in Lithuania, revealed that the pilfered data comprised user logins, cookies, digital fingerprints, screenshots, and various other information. The average cost for an individual’s digital identity was estimated at Rs. 490.

Tracking data over the past four years since the inception of bot markets in 2018, NordVPN disclosed these alarming statistics. India has been grappling with cybersecurity issues, exemplified by recent incidents such as the infection of multiple servers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a prominent government hospital, and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) facing thousands of hacking attempts within a 24-hour span.

Indian cybersecurity regulations have been reinforced only earlier this year, with the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) mandating tech companies to report data breaches within six hours and maintain IT and communications logs for six months.

NordVPN’s study focused on three major bot markets—Genesis, Russian Market, and 2Easy—revealing stolen logins, including those from Google, Microsoft, and Facebook accounts. The distinctive feature of bot markets, according to Marijus Briedis, Chief Technology Officer at NordVPN, is their ability to aggregate substantial amounts of data about an individual in one location. Moreover, once the bot is sold, buyers are assured that the victim’s information will be continually updated as long as their device remains infected.

The research by NordVPN uncovered a staggering 667 million cookies, 81,000 digital fingerprints, 538,000 auto-fill forms, along with numerous device screenshots and webcam snaps.