Plaintext with Rich
Cybersecurity is an everyone problem. So why does it always sound like it’s only for IT people?
Each week, Rich takes one topic, from phishing to ransomware to how your phone actually tracks you, and explains it in plain language in under ten minutes or less. No buzzwords. No condescension. Just the stuff you need to know to stay safer online, explained like you’re a smart person who never had anyone break it down properly. Because you are!
Plaintext with Rich
Inside The Dark Web Market For Stolen Identities
Your data doesn’t vanish after a breach it enters a market. We break down the dark web as a logistics layer for cybercrime, not a mythical place, and show how stolen credentials and identity records are bundled, priced, and resold based on freshness, completeness, and volume. The result isn’t always a dramatic wipeout; it’s usually slow, quiet harm that surfaces as odd charges, medical bills you don’t recognize, and loan denials that make no sense.
We start by stripping away myths: the dark web isn’t separate from the internet and it isn’t inherently evil. Anonymity tools serve journalists and activists as much as criminals, but that same privacy enables large-scale trade of stolen data. From breach to buyer, we map the roles intruders, brokers, and fraud operators and explain why news headlines are a poor compass for personal risk. Utility, not publicity, drives what gets used, when it gets used, and how often it returns to bite you.
Then we get practical. We shift the mindset from “breach as event” to “breach as exposure” and outline moves that actually lower risk: change passwords when incidents occur, use a password manager to stop cross-site reuse, turn on multi-factor authentication, and monitor the right channels credit reports, bank statements, and insurance portals on a schedule. We also talk about shrinking the data attackers can sell by closing old accounts, removing saved cards, and questioning why services hold sensitive details indefinitely. Good security accepts that some breaches happen and focuses on limiting what leaks, how long it stays valuable, and how fast you can recover.
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When your data is taken, it doesn't fall into a void. It doesn't sit in a file somewhere untouched. It moves, it gets packaged, it gets priced. And while you're changing a password or reading a headline, someone else is deciding how many times they reuse your name. Welcome to Plain Text with Rich. Today we're talking about the dark web. What I like to do first here is let's start by stripping away the mythology, as much as I love mythology, preferably Greek. The dark web is not a separate internet. It's not a place you simply stumble into. One does not simply walk into the dark web, right? And it's not inherently evil. In plain terms, the dark web is a part of the internet that's intentionally difficult to trace. It uses tools and networks designed to hide who you are and where you're connecting from. Anonymity is the feature here. Journalists use it, activists use it, people living under surveillance use it. But the same privacy that protects some people is also going to attract criminals. Because if you're selling something illegal, hey, you don't want a receipt. And that's where the dark web becomes relevant to everyday life. Most cybercrime doesn't end with the stealing of the data. That's just the first step. Stolen data only becomes valuable when it finds a buyer, and the dark web is where that exchange happens at scale. Think of it less like a secret layer and more like a wholesale market. Credentials are bundled, personal records are grouped by type, pricing is based on freshness, completeness, volume, and potentially even access. A single password might be worth almost nothing. A full identity profile is worth more. Medical records cost more than credit cards because they can't be canceled. None of this is dramatic, it's it's it's transactional. This exists because breaches create supply. When a company loses data, that information, again, doesn't just leak. It gets collected, cleaned up, and reposted. Sometimes it's sold directly, sometimes it's traded, sometimes it's given away to build reputation. The people buying it aren't always the ones who stole it either. One group specializes in breaking in, another specializes in selling, another uses the data for fraud later. That separation is important. Your data isn't taken because you're special, it's taken because you're included. Once data enters this ecosystem, it rarely gets used just once. If we go back, a stolen password might be tested against dozens of sites. An old address might be combined with a new breach. A leaked social security number can be reused for years. Again, that's why people experience random fraud months or even years later. As we mentioned before, the breach isn't new, the usage is. This is also why breach headlines are a poor indicator of personal risk. You can be affected by incidents you've never even heard of, and completely unaffected by the ones that dominate the news. The dark web doesn't care about publicity, it cares about utility. So what does this actually look like in the real world? Well, hey, accounts get slowly drained instead of emptied. Fraud appears in places that you don't check often. Medical bills arrive for services you didn't receive. Loan rejections come without clear explanations. As a lot of the times, it's rarely one big explosion. It's friction, it's cleanup, it's time. And the hardest part is that none of this feels connected when it actually happens. That's by design. The dark web isn't about spectacle, it's about distribution. So, as with everything else we've discussed over our episodes, right? If we do nothing else, let's look at three things that we can do. Again, first, assume that stolen data will be reused. Not might be, but will be. That mindset changes how you respond to breaches. You stop treating them as events and start treating them as exposure. Second, change passwords when breaches happen. Even if the account seems fine, attackers don't log in immediately every time they wait. They test elsewhere, they sell access. Remember, delayed response is still response, but faster is going to be better. And third, hey, monitor your accounts, not just the headlines. Check your credit reports, check bank statements, check insurance portals. These signals matter more than just news cycles. You don't need to watch everything. You need to watch the right things consistently. If you want to go one step further, reduce how much data exists in the first place. And how do we do that? Well, we close accounts that we don't use anymore. We delete saved payment information that you don't need. Question why certain services store sensitive details indefinitely. As you can guess, less stored data means less reusable data later. And it's not paranoia, like our first episode. That's by design. So, how about we clear up a common misconception? That the dark web is not a magic place where anything is possible. It does have its rules, it has logistics, it has trust systems, ironically, but they are there. Most transactions fail, scams exist there too, buyers also get burned. Cybercrime isn't frictionless, it's just profitable enough to continue, which leads us, I think, to the real takeaway. The dark web inherently isn't the problem, it's the destination. The real issue is how easily data enters the pipeline and how long it remains usable once it does get there. Good security doesn't try to eliminate breaches entirely. Again, it assumes some will happen. The goal is here for us to limit how much data is exposed, how long it stays valuable, and how quickly people can recover. That's true for companies and it's true for individuals. So if you remember one thing from this episode, remember this. When data is stolen, it doesn't disappear, it enters a market. And good security design focuses less on chasing thieves and more on reducing what they can sell. As always, if there's a security topic you want broken down in plain text, send it my way. Email me, DM me, drop it in the comments. As always, however you choose to reach out to me, I will read it and I will respond. If this episode helped at all, share it with someone who'd actually benefit. This has been plain text with rich. 10 minutes or less, one topic, no panic. I'll see you next time.