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Underground Economy valued at $276 Million
2008-11-25
Symantec has just released a report on the Underground Economy. In their Press Release, they state "The report details an online underground economy that 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. 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."
Symantec stated that the potential value of total advertised goods was more than $276 million during the reporting period. Within the report there was a table that listed the most available goods for sale by category:
31% Credit card information
20% Financial accounts
19% Spam and phishing information
7% Withdrawal service
7% Identity theft information
5% Server accounts
4% Compromised computers
3% Website accounts
2% Malicious applications
1% Retail accounts
The Press Release explains, "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 $0.10 to $25 per card, the average advertised stolen credit card limit observed by Symantec was more than $4,000. Symantec has calculated that the potential worth of all credit cards advertised during the reporting was $5.3 billion."
Stephen Trilling, vice president, Symantec Security Technology and Response was quoted as saying, "As evidenced by the Report on the Underground Economy, today's cybercriminals are thriving off of information they are gathering without permission from consumers and businesses. As these individuals and groups continue to devise new tools and techniques to defraud legitimate users around the globe, protection and mitigation against such attacks must become an international priority."
New Symantec Report Reveals Booming Underground Economy - Press Release
