While the global economic turmoil is forcing Governments to initiate measures to arrest further decline in growth rates, cyber crooks operating in the underground economy seem to be cashing in on the opportunity.
Wondering how? With shopping and banking transactions occurring online, password stealing has, for instance, become a common cyber crime. McAfee Avert Labs has seen the count of password stealing malware variants increase by nearly 400 per cent during 2007-08.
Symantec’s Report on the Underground Economy reveals that the most frequently advertised item on underground economy servers are bank account credentials (which consist of account numbers and authentication information) accounting for 18 per cent of goods and services available for sale.
The large supply of bank account credentials may be due to a shift towards online banking.
Forty four per cent of Internet users perform some degree of Internet banking in the US, it is higher at 67 per cent in Canada. It has just caught on in India. According to the report, the advertised prices for bank account credentials ranged from $10 to $1,000 (between July 2007-June 2008), with prices depending on the amount of funds available, the location and type of account.
The second most common advertised item was credit card numbers accompanied by CVV2 numbers, accounting for 16 per cent of the sale of all advertised goods and services. (Merchants at many online sites require the CVV2 number as part of their authorisation process and the number of sites requiring this authentication is increasing.)
The Report said credit cards with CVV2 numbers were typically sold in bulk, with packages ranging in size from 5 to 500. The advertised prices of these ranged between $0.50 and $12.
The third most common item advertised for sale on underground economy servers was credit cards, accounting for 13 per cent of all advertised goods during the reporting period. Symantec perceives credit cards as not being as popular as bank account credentials or credit card numbers possibly because these are difficult to exploit due to the time-sensitive nature of the stolen cards and increased security measures taken by merchants.
Credit card prices observed on the underground economy servers ranged from $0.10 to $25 per card number. Symantec estimates the value of the total advertised goods on observed underground economy servers at over $276 million during the said period.
While law enforcement agencies strive to arrest and indict those involved in frauds and identity theft, the global nature of these criminal enterprises is making it increasingly difficult to locate their operations and shut them down.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Cyber criminals are on the prowl, looking for newer ways to make money. So, keep your identity and wallet safe by adopting security safeguards.
Posts
