When your credit card details are stolen, where do they end up? One data company attempted to find out by diving into the Dark Web - a murky online world where stolen information is often offered up for sale. The unique experiment tracked stolen data from California as it travelled the globe, and found that it landed in five different continents and 22 countries within just two weeks . Scroll down for video . The unique experiment tracked stolen data as it travelled the globe, and found that it landed in five different continents and 22 countries within just two weeks. Overall, the data was viewed more than 1,000 times and downloaded 47 times; some activity had connections to crime syndicates in Nigeria and Russia . 'When the story first broke about the Morgan Stanley breach, it got us thinking,' security research firm Bitglass wrote on their blog. 'We all hear about these massive breaches that take place, Target, Home Depot, Sony, Anthem, Premera, but what actually happens to the data after it is stolen?' Bitglass created an excel spreadsheet of 1,568 fake employee credentials, and then placed it on anonymous file sharing sites within the Dark Web, using a Tor browser as an entry point. The company then tracked the data as it travelled to various sinister locations around the world, and as it was shared amongst cyber-crime syndicates overseas. Bitglass created an excel spreadsheet of 1,568 fake employee credentials, and then placed it on anonymous file sharing sites within the Dark Web, using a Tor browser as an entry point. By day 12, the file had received over 1,080 clicks had spread to 22 countries on five continents . The stolen data found its way on the Dark Web to five continents - North America, Asia, Europe, Africa and South America . It was accessed from 22 countries - United States, Brazil, Belgium, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Finland, the Maldives, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, the Russian Federation, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Turkey and Luxembourg . Overall, the data was viewed more than 1,000 times and downloaded 47 times; some activity had connections to crime syndicates in Nigeria and Russia. Traffic patterns suggest the fake data was shared among members of the syndicates to vet its validity and subsequently shared elsewhere on the Dark Web, beyond the original drop sites. '[The] file travels through Bitglass proxy when downloaded from a cloud or on-premises application,' the company explained. When this occurs, the document is automatically embedded with an invisible watermark . Every time the document was opened, a 'ping' was sent to the Bitglass portal displaying: user name, file name, geographic location, IP address and device type. Even if a watermarked document was copied and pasted elsewhere, or mutilated in some way, the watermarks still persisted. Within only a few days, the fake credentials had been downloaded in over five countries, three continents and was viewed over 200 times. By day 12, the file had received over 1,080 clicks had spread to 22 countries on five continents. 'By the end of the experiment the fake document of employee data had made its way to North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa,' the company said in their report. 'Countries frequently associated with cyber-criminal activity, including Russia, China and Brazil, were the most common access points for the identity data. Every time the document was opened, a 'ping' was sent to the Bitglass portal displaying: user name, file name, geographic location, IP address and device type. Pictured are the regions that accessed the data by day 17 . Traffic patterns suggest the fake data was shared among members of the syndicates to vet its validity and subsequently shared elsewhere on the Dark Web, beyond the original drop sites . Overall, the data was viewed more than 1,000 times and downloaded 47 times; some activity had connections to crime syndicates in Nigeria and Russia. Traffic patterns suggest the fake data was shared among members of the syndicates to vet its validity and subsequently shared elsewhere on the Dark Web, beyond the original drop sites. Last year, 783 data breaches were reported in the US, which represents a 27.5 percent spike over the previous year. Often it can take months, and sometimes years, for a company to detect a security problem. By this time, the data is likely to have already travelled around the world. Last year, 783 data breaches were reported in the US, which represents a 27.5 percent spike over the previous year.Often it can take months, and sometimes years, for a company to detect a security problem. By this time, the data is likely to have already travelled around the world .
Bitglass created 1,568 fake details and released them on the Dark Web . Data landed in five different continents and 22 countries within two weeks . Overall, data was viewed more than 1,000 times and downloaded 47 times . Some activity had connections to crime syndicates in Nigeria and Russia .