Pierluigi Paganini May 10, 2015

In recent years the perception of the role of hackers is completely changed, in the past these high-skilled professionals were viewed as dangerous threats that needed to be kept at arm’s length, meanwhile today they are highly sought from private companies and intelligence agencies.

“An increasingly large number of modern business operations rely on an understanding of the risks associated with software that can easily be made vulnerable to hacking.”

Hacking services today are required not only by private companies and not only for legal purposes, very often individuals ask hackers to strike a competitor or to take over a Gmail or Facebook for espionage.

How much cost hire a hacker? Which are the prices for their services?

According to a recent investigation conducted by the Business Insider if you want to hack someone’s Gmail account, you will have to pay about $90.

“Hacking a Gmail address can come in handy if you lose your account password, manage other people’s business accounts or simply want to improve your computer skills. ” states the post. “‘If you want to crack Gmail passwords, you can hack Gmail with browser settings, phishing and keylogging software and special scripts”‘

Not only Gmail account could be compromised by a hacker, if you want to take over into someone’s Facebook account you have to spend around $350. But hackers could be hired for other services, as explained by the Business Insider it is possible to pay a professional to steal someone’s Hilton HHonor points for $15 or to alter the rate of a restaurant on the Yelp portal for $300.  The takeover of a NetFlix account is very cheap and goes for $1.25.

Other common commodities in the hacking underground are the hacking courses that goes for $20, we have discussed about it months ago when I have analyzed with you a report published by TrendMicro on the Brazilian underground market.

“The Brazilian underground also offers a bank fraud courses for aspiring cyber-criminals, the courses are very articulated and propose detailed information for beginners to the criminal activities. The courses starts presenting the fraud workflow and tools necessary to arrange a cyber fraud. Some coursed are arranged in modules that propose interesting information on the illegal practices to cybercriminal wannabes that can acquire also interactive guides and practical exercises (e.g., simulating attacks). A 10-module corse for example is offered for US$468, the operators also offer updates and a Skype contact service.” I wrote. 

Hackers could be hired also to compromise a website, deface it or to steal data from its database. Most hackers for hire offer their services on different forums in the Deep Web or Reddit-like forums, the common denominator is their anonymity and the possibility to use virtual currencies for payments.

The Business Insider explained that it is not difficult to find a hacker that offers a hit and run DDoS or the hack of a website.

“Website hack or ddos. Paying well.” is the message of a hacker that promise to hack a WordPress-built website down for “2k euro.”

The Business insider also refers a site called the Hacker’s List that helps allow users to ‘Hire the right hacker‘.

“Hiring a hacker shouldn’t be a difficult process, we believe that finding a trustworthy professional hacker for hire should be a worry free and painless experience,’ according to the website. “

“At Hacker’s List we want to provide you with the best opportunity to find your ideal hacker and for professional hackers around the world to find you.”

There are various ways to contact a hacker, for this reason, I decided to show you which are hacking services available in the underground and which are their costs … you will read this and much more in my next article “Hacking in the Deep Web”

Stay tuned …

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs –  hackers, underground)

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