The price of online robbery
Nov 24th 2008
From Economist.com
The cost of goods and services offered by cybercriminals
BANK details are the most popular single item for sale by online fraudsters, according to a new report by Symantec, an internet-security firm. They are also the priciest, perhaps because the average account for which details are offered has a balance of nearly $40,000. Sales of details of credit cards make up some 30% of all goods and services on offer on “underground” servers, and nearly 60% of their value. Cards without security codes (or CVV2 numbers) are harder to exploit, and are usually cheaper. A criminal may wish to use “cash-out” services to convert stolen online goods into real currency for a slice of their value. Scams involving the design and hosting of fake webpages for phishing attempts, as well as the “mailer” applications used to send phishing e-mails, are also popular.
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