The underground economy has matured into a global market with the same supply and demand pressures and responses of any other economy. There are a great many servers and channels available to advertisers to market their wares, which they do, and often. Most people associate identity theft with money because most reported cases involve criminals using the identity for activities such as obtaining credit cards, applying for loans, obtaining expensive medical or pharmaceutical treatments, or even stealing house titles. Symantec estimates the value of total advertised goods on underground economy servers was over $276 million between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008.
During the reporting period, Symantec monitored 44,752 unique samples of sensitive information publicly posted on underground economy servers, which accounted for 10 percent of the total distinct messages. Sellers often publicly post samples of their goods in the channels on underground economy servers. These samples serve several purposes: to prove that sellers actually have the goods in their possession; to show potential buyers the quality of goods they can expect; to enhance their credibility, and; to allow users to validate the information. The following table identities the top samples of information posted:
The Symantec Internet Security Threat Report offers analysis and discussion of threat activity over a six-month period. It covers Internet attacks, vulnerabilities, malicious code, phishing, spam and security risks as well as future trends. The thirteenth version of the report, released April 8, 2008, is available.
The following reports provide in-depth analysis on regional and government sector threat activity:
ISTR XIII - Key Findings
An overview of the threats and trends covered in Symantec's latest Internet Security Threat Report and offers strategies for mitigation. Listen now
ISTR XIII - Maturation of Underground Economy Servers
Symantec's discussion on underground economy servers - black market forums used by criminal organizations to advertise and trade stolen information and services. Listen now
ISTR XIII - Phishing Trends
Symantec assesses phishing according to two indicators: phishing attempts and phishing messages. A phishing attempt can be defined as an instance of a phishing message being sent to a single user. This podcast will cover phishing metrics, providing analysis and discussion of the data gathered by Symantec between July 1 and December 31, 2007. Listen now
Read what Symantec’s Security Response experts are writing about the latest issue of the Internet Security Threat Report
Download any of our past Internet Security Threat Reports.
