Fraud The computer underground has realised that
paid for Internet services, such as Internet access, email and web
hosting, provides new opportunities for illegal activity with the
additional satisfaction of getting something for nothing. Virus writers
have authored a range of Trojans which steal login information and
passwords to gain free access to other users' Internet resources. The
first password stealing Trojans appeared in 1997: the aim was to gain
access to AOL. By 1998 similar Trojans appeared for all other major
Internet service providers. Trojans stealing log in data for dial-up
ISPs, AOL and other Internet services are usually written by people
with limited means to support their Internet habit, or by people who do
not accept that Internet resources are a commercial service just like
any other, and must therefore be paid for. For a long time, this
group of Trojans constituted a significant portion of the daily 'catch'
for antivirus companies worldwide. Today, the numbers are decreasing in
proportion to the decreasing cost of Internet access. Computer games
and software license keys are another target for cyber fraud. Once
again, Trojans providing free access to these resources are written by
and for people with limited financial resources. Some hacking and
cracking utilities are also written by so-called 'freedom fighters',
who proclaim that all infomration should be shared freely throughout
the computing community. However, fraud remains a crime, no matter how
noble the aim is made out to be.
Organised cyber crime The
most dangerous virus writers are individuals and groups who have turned
professional. These people either extract money directly from end users
(either by theft or by fraud) or use zombie machines to earn money in
other ways, such as creating and selling a spamming platform, or
organizing DoS attacks, with the Most of today's serious outbreaks are
caused by professional virus writers who organize the blanket
installations of Trojans to victim machines. This may be done by using
worms, links to infected sites or other Trojans.aim here being
blackmail.
Bot networks Currently, virus
writers either work for particular spammers or sell their wares to the
highest bidder. Today, one standard procedure is for virus writers to
create bot networks, i.e. networks of zombie computer infected with
identical malicious code. In the case of networks used as spamming
platforms, a Trojan proxy server will penetrate the victim machines.
These networks number from a thousand to tens of thousands of infected
machines. The virus writers then sell these networks to the highest
bidder in the computer underground. Such networks are generally used
as spamming platforms. Hacker utilities can be used to ensure that
these networks run efficiently; malicious software is installed without
the knowledge or consent of the user, adware programs can be camoflaged
to prevent detection and deletion, and antivirus software may be
attacked.
Financial gain Apart from
servicing spam and adware, professional virus writers also create Tojan
spies which they use to steal money from e-wallets, Pay Pal accounts
and/or directly from Internet bank accounts. These Trojans harvest
banking and payment information from local machines or even corporate
servers and then forward it to the master.
Cyber extortion The
third major form of contemporary cyber crime is extortion or Internet
rackets. Usually, virus writers create a network of zombie machines
capable of conducting an organized DoS attack. Then they blackmail
companies by threatening to conduct a DoS attack against the corporate
website. Popular targets include estores, banking and gambling sites,
i.e. companies whose revenues are generated directly by their on-line
presence.
Other malware Virus writers and
hackers also ensure that adware, dialers, utilities that redirect
browsers to pay-to-view sites and other types of unwanted software
function efficiently. Such programs can generate profits for the
computer underground, so it's in the interests of virus writers and
hackers to make sure that these programs are not detected and are
regularly updated. In spite of the media attention given to young
virus writers who manage to cause a global epidemic, approximately 90%
of malicious code is written by the professionals. Although all of four
groups of virus writers challenge computer security, the group which
poses a serious, and growing threat is the community of professional
virus writers who sell their services.