McAfee highlights the price of stolen data

UK bank account holding £12,000 on sale for just £800

Security firm McAfee has highlighted the growing sophistication of online criminal marketplaces trading in stolen bank account details. All the information needed to strip a UK bank account of £12,000 can be bought for just £800.

Criminals have long since traded in stolen information, but details recently published by McAfee underscore how sophisticated this market has become.

McAfee Avert Labs blogger, Francois Paget published a price list of data for sale at such nefarious site. For example for a UK NatWest bank account holding £12,000 cost an around £793.

Prices varied depending on available the balance, the bank and country. Additional information such as PIN and transfer passphrases were also provided.

Paget rejected suggestions that prices for such illicit information were now at bargain-bin levels. "Let there be no misunderstanding about that, if the quality is here, the price will still be high," she wrote.