Renting a botnet costs $67 a day
By Luciana on May 28, 2010 | Computer Security
Computer infections probably mean only annoying pop-ups for you but on the scammers’ point of view it is a type of business. The idea of cyber marketplace for malware and stolen data is neither new nor surprising. Yet, the more time passes by, the more organized cyber crime gets.
VeriSign recently published report on botnets market and now we know how much it costs to use infected computers secretly. A zombie network is made of thousands of infected computers and it can be used to various malicious activities. Usually, the owner of a compromised machine has no idea about the infection because the whole thing happens secretly and it’s difficult to track down even if a decent security suite is installed onboard. The victim gets a piece of malicious code on their PC which may seem like not such a big deal. But the scammers get loads of infected computers that can be operated to spread malware, deliver spam, coordinate DDoS attacks and perform other illegal and dangerous actions. If you’re the bad guy, botnet is a powerful tool to have. And if you don’t have it, you can simply join the black market to rent one.
VeriSign analyzed online offers for massive malicious campaigns. While infiltrating the scammers may be a difficult task, getting your hands on a botnet turned out to be a piece of cake. VeriSign researchers were able to find 25 advertisements. They reported the average cost of renting a botnet to be $9 an hour or $67 for 24 hours access. As you can see, you can even get a discount.
The prices of botnets may be considered to be relatively low or relatively high but one thing is for sure: while people can earn money this way, they won’t stop doing it. And they are interested to find ways to improve the “business strategy”. This makes every PC owner a potential victim.
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