If cybercrime was a country it would have the 13th highest GDP in the world .
cyber trends is misleading . Cybercrime is more accurately described as an economy .
Dr Michael McGuire said : “ A hyperconnected range of economic agents , economic relationships and other factors now capable of generating , supporting and maintaining criminal revenues at an unprecedented scale .”
The report suggests there is now a growing interconnectedness and interdependence between both the illegitimate and legitimate economies .
This interdependence is creating what Dr McGuire calls ‘ the web of profit ’, which he says companies and nation states now make money from .
He said : “ They also acquire data and competitive advantages from it and use it as a tool for strategy , global advancement and social control . There is a range of ways in which many leading and respectable online platforms are now implicated in enabling or supporting crime ( albeit unwittingly , in most cases ).”
Platform criminality in a postcrime era
Platform capitalism – a term used to describe the likes of Uber , Facebook and Amazon – is offering fertile ground for hackers to further their gains .
Whether by hacking companies to acquire user data , intellectual property ,
Gregory Webb , CEO of Bromium disseminating malware , selling illegal goods and services , setting up fake shop fronts to launder money or simply connecting buyers and sellers , it is evident that cybercriminals are adept at manipulating existing platforms for commercial gain .
Yet beyond platforms being the targets and unwitting enablers of cybercrime , the report suggests they have provided inspiration – as a model of platform criminality emerges .
Dr McGuire said : “ This is creating a kind of ‘ monstrous double ’ of the legitimate information economy , where data is king .
“ The web of profit is not just feeding off the way wealth is generated there ,
If cybercrime was a country it would have the 13th highest GDP in the world .
it is reproducing and , in some cases , outperforming it .”
The report points to the success of modern ‘ platforms ’ – companies like Facebook , Google and Amazon – highlighting their role as facilitators rather than creators .
“ The main contribution of platforms is to connect individuals with a service or product . The platforms produce nothing themselves in this process but the enduser consumers provide platforms with the most precious of all commodities within an information-based economy – their data . We are now seeing the same thing in the cybercriminal underworld ,” said Dr McGuire .
The report shows that cybercriminal platform owners are likely to receive the biggest benefit from this new wave of cybercrime and that the owners will distance themselves from the actual commission of crime .
In fact , it has been estimated individual hackers may only earn around US $ 30,000 per year . Managers can earn up to US $ 2 million per job – often with just 50 stolen card details at their disposal .
Dr McGuire refers to this as a shift to ‘ post-crime ’ reality , where cybercriminals are taking a ‘ platform capitalism ’ approach to selling , rather than committing crime . In fact , Dr McGuire found criminal sites offering ratings , descriptions , reviews , services and even technical and customer support .
These platforms are improving the criminal ‘ customer experience ’ and allowing easy access to services and products that support the commission of crime on a global scale . Some examples of services and products include :
• Zero-day Adobe exploits – up to US $ 30,000
• Zero-day iOS exploit – US $ 250,000
• Malware exploit kit – US $ 200 to US $ 600 per exploit
• Blackhole exploit kit – US $ 700 for a month ’ s leasing , or US $ 1,500 for a year
• Custom spyware – US $ 200
• SMS spoofing service – US $ 20 per month
• Hacker for hire – around US $ 200 for a ‘ small ’ hack
These platforms fuel industrial scale revenue generation with their own sets of digital currencies and exchanges , production zones , tools supply , technical support , global distribution mechanism and marketplaces .
They deal with specialised producers , suppliers , service providers and consumers . Interestingly , advertising is a core revenue generator too – before being taken down in 2016 , the ‘ Kickass Torrents ’ platform was worth more than US $ 54 million , with an estimated US $ 12.5 to $ 22.3 million annually in ad revenue alone . u www . intelligentciso . com | Issue 04
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