Symantec takes cybercrime snapshot with 'Underground Economy' report
Date: November 24, 2008Source: networkworld.com
The criminal market online for buying and selling stolen credit cards, pirated software and information about financial accounts is thriving, according to a report published Monday by Symantec.
The “Underground Economy” report contains a snapshot of online criminal activity observed from July 2007 to June 2008 by a Symantec team monitoring activities in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and Web-based forums where stolen goods are advertised. Symantec estimates the total value of the goods advertised on what it calls "underground servers" was about $276 million, with credit-card information accounting for 59% of the total.
If that purloined information were successfully exploited, it probably would bring the buyers about $5 billion, according to the report -- just a drop in the bucket, points out David Cowings, senior manager of operations at Symantec Security Response.
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