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Online thieves making £3.3bn
Archived article dated Tuesday November 25th 2008
Criminals who specialise in card fraud have a credit line in excess of $5bn (£3.35bn), research from Symantec suggests.
Symantec defines cybercrime as "any crime that is committed using a computer, network, or hardware device. The computer or device may be the agent of the crime, the facilitator of the crime, or the target of the crime."
Cybercriminals operate in online forums as well as use internet relay chat channels to advertise, request, and sell goods and services, such as stolen credit cards, bank account information, and spam and phishing information. Symantec, however, says that more sophisticated cybercriminals will likely switch to other channels as their marketplace to communicate as more and more forums are infiltrated and monitored by the police.Much of the market's worth is derived from the sale of stolen credit card information, which, according to Symantec, accounts for 59 per cent of the underground economy. Stolen credit cards are also the most advertised and requested good on these online forums.
"Credit card information may be in such demand because using fraudulent credit card data for activities such as making online purchases is relatively easy," said the report. "Online shopping can be easy and fast, and a final sale often requires just credit card information."
Spam and phishing information ranked third as the most advertised good or service on online criminal forums, but it was the second most requested good or service. According to an article from Consumer Reports quoted by Symantec, phishing attacks cost U.S. businesses and consumers $2.1 billion last year.
Tagged as: spam | fraud | underground
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