Russian Underground 101 a Booming Economy

If you think crime does not pay then you have not been keeping up with the developments of the Russian underground market. This place is buzzing with cyber-criminals where anyone can purchase exploit kits, VPN services and custom-built malware.

Maxim Goncharov from Trend Micro has released a 29 page paper entitled “Russian Underground 101”. It details everything there is to know about the products and services available on these open markets. For the right price one can initiate a full blown malicious cyber agenda, and anyone is a target.

The paper is very detailed covers topics including exploits, crypting, proxies, VPN, programming, distributed denial-of-service (DDOS), spamming, Trojans, Rootkits, botnets, Social Engineering, hacking, SMS fraud, and even Black Hat SEO.

It even outlines the market prices of “pay-per-install” services which vary based on target country. Interestingly Australia appears to be the most “expensive” target.

How about distributed malware to 1,000 users for just USD$100, from Russia with love. Or a Skype SMS spamming tool for USD$40. For those on a budget, USD$10 will get you spam campaign with 1,000,000 emails.

Premium services such as full customer databases the going rate is an average of USD$250.

The capability of the Russian underground community is not a force to be reckoned with. Ignore it, and deal with the consequences. It’s a paramount reminder of just how easy you could become a target.