Underground economy booming online, says Symantec

IDG News Service - An online underground economy has recently matured into an efficient, global marketplace to trade stolen goods and offer fraud-related services.

According to Symantec Corp.'s recently released 'Report on the Underground Economy', the estimated value of goods offered by individual traders within the online black market is measured in the millions of dollars.

The report is derived from data gathered by Symantec's Security Technology and Response (STAR) organization from underground economy servers between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008.

STAR is a worldwide team of security engineers, threat analysts and researchers that provides the underlying functionality, content and support for all Symantec corporate and consumer security solutions.

The potential value of total advertised goods observed by Symantec was more than $276 million for the reporting period. This value was determined using the advertised prices of the goods and services and measured how much advertisers would make if they liquidated their inventory.

Bulk selling of credit card info

Credit card information is the most advertised category of goods and services on the underground economy, accounting for 31% of the total. While stolen credit card numbers sell for as little as 10 cents to $25 per card, the average advertised stolen credit card limit observed by Symantec was more than $4,000.

The company has calculated that the potential worth of all credit cards advertised during the reporting period was $5.3 billion.

Credit card information is likely popular because of the many ways it can be obtained and used for fraud. Credit cards are easy to use for online shopping, and it is often difficult for merchants or credit providers to identify and address fraudulent transactions before fraudsters complete these transactions and receive their goods.

Also, credit card information is often sold to fraudsters in bulk, with discounts or free numbers provided with larger purchases.

The second most common category of goods and services advertised was financial accounts, at 20% of the total. While stolen bank account information sells for between $10 and $1,000, the average advertised stolen bank account balance is nearly $40,000.

Calculating the average advertised balance of a bank account together with the average price for stolen bank account numbers, the worth of the bank accounts advertised during this reporting period was $1.7 billion.

Financial account information is likely popular because of its potential for high payouts and the speed at which payouts can be made. In one case, financial accounts were cashed out online to untraceable locations in less than 15 minutes.

Cybercriminals reap revenue

During the reporting period, Symantec observed 69,130 distinct active advertisers and 44,321,095 total messages posted to underground forums. The potential value of the total advertised goods for the top 10 most active advertisers was $16.3 million for credit cards and $2 million for bank accounts.

Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
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