Underground online economy worth N32.8bn – STAR

Latest report from Symantec’s Security Technology and Response (STAR) organisation, has revealed that there are booming underground economy, recording the sum of $276 million, (about N32,871,599,578 billion).

The report generated from STAR servers between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008, showed that online underground economy has matured into an efficient, global marketplace in which stolen goods and fraud-related services are regularly bought and sold, and where the estimated value of goods offered by individual traders is measured in millions of dollars.

Symantec said, the report was motivated to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world.

“Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored,” the report stated.

The potential value of total advertised goods observed by Symantec was more than $276 million (about N32.2b) for the period under review.

This value, the report indicated was determined using the advertised prices of the goods and services and measured how much advertisers would make if they liquidated their inventory.

Credit card information was the most advertised category of goods and services on the underground economy, accounting for 31 per cent of the total.

While stolen credit card numbers sell for as little as $0.10 to $25 per card, the average advertised stolen credit card limit observed by Symantec was more than $4,000.

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

The popularity of credit card information, according to STAR is likely due to the many ways this information could be obtained and used for fraud; credit cards are easy to use for online shopping and it’s 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 per cent 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.

Even as the popularity of financial account information is likely due to 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.

During the reporting period, Symantec also 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.

Furthermore, the potential worth of the goods advertised by the single most active advertiser identified by Symantec during the study period was $6.4 million.

The underground economy is geographically diverse and generates revenue for cybercriminals who range from loose collections of individuals to organised and sophisticated groups.

During this reporting period, North America hosted the largest number of such servers, with 45 per cent of the total; Europe/Middle East/Africa hosted 38 per cent; followed by Asia/Pacific with 12 per cent and Latin America with 5 per cent.

The geographical locations of underground economy servers are constantly changing to evade detection.


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