Hackers’ black market, a growing threat to govt & businesses

Black markets that sell computer hacking tools and services such as stolen credit card numbers continue to grow, posing a growing hazard to governments, businesses and individuals, a study by RAND Corporation said.

The global study, Markets for Cyber crime Tools and Stolen Data: Hackers’ Bazaar, was sponsored by IT and computer networking firm Juniper Networks.

The report states that black markets for hacking tools, services and byproducts are growing in size and complexity.

“The hacker market, once a varied landscape of discrete, ad hoc networks of individuals initially motivated by little more than ego and notoriety, has emerged a playground of financially driven, highly organised and sophisticated groups,” it said.

In certain respects, black market can be more profitable than the illegal drug trade. The links to end-users are more direct and because worldwide distribution is accomplished electronically, the requirements are negligible, it added.

“RAND’s report, confirmed by Juniper’s vast experience in the network security ecosystem, suggests that cyber black markets are a mature and growing multi-billion-dollar economy with a robust infrastructure and social organisation.

Cyber black market transactions are often conducted using digital currencies.