Pierluigi Paganini December 10, 2011

In recent weeks we have discussed a lot about cyber crime and how it is assuming frightening proportions. A growing business in which a huge number of organizations have taken an interest. The cyber space considered as an open ocean in which there is anarchy and it is relatively the mob began to invest in a massive way.

This is one aspect of the evolution of ciber threats, that defined “black” just because the threat is mainly driven by criminals. But cyberspace is not only an object of interest of criminals in search of business, but it is also a battleground between the major governments that understand the power of an offensive that could be an produced in this area. It is a strategic sector! Therefore, we discuss about cyber defense and cyber strategies, new words summarizing the importance of having adequate and competent knowledge in the field.

That said today I read the news that prompted me to write this article I want to share with you. The new is as follows:

On the popular site Freelancer user for freelance search ot has been published the following announcement:

“Need an expert in customized botnet.”

International IT Group need a customised botnet trojan. For end of process of check of an antivirus on detection nocuous ON
it is necessary to give trojan botnet, a virus with installation on a server trojan should include grabber,VNC, Injects and adjusting
files. All operations will be spent especially in professional anti virus programs which is legal.I ask that you had a full package of
tools and a control panel board with check of characteristics of the data and application of services of installation on my computer
Work concerns to the international check of the anti-virus software and results will be confidential information with use of means of
concealment of the data. Your botnet trojan should be established on a server and is included in the user network and spread on our group of computers. Confidentiality is provided with our security service and given trojan is used in the research purposes.Please send me your suggestion on e-mail in Offer.txt.I will look over and will replay instantly.It is project for the high qaulity professionals of viruse expert freelancers. For complete my project I need a botnet trojan and grabber. 

The request raises some concern because it is clear that those who are seeking staff are well aware of the ultimate development, a malware.

Difficult to understand the real nature of the request, it may have been published to recruit cheap labor force, or may be a trap set to detect and track the availability of groups dedicated to this type of activity. Last week I published the second part of my research, “How much malware production cost? Which are the processes for the production of virus? (Part.2)”  and as I explained the figures necessary for a structured development of an agent amounts to several tens of millions of euros. The figure is the result of a year, which as you can see, lists the principal figures involved in the development of malware and its cost.  If I were a reader not expert in the field immediately found an inconsistency … first I read of exorbitant expense behind the development of malware, and now I find that with a few thousand of dollars I can commission to a group of freelancers the development of my malware with no particular problems.

The truth as always is in the middle. It ‘s always easier to come across as that required under discussion, the interest is much higher figures are required for more specialized parts. It is considerable that the basin in which to apply to these selections is very large. Easy to find western underground bands, but just emerging countries are those that churn out the greater number of resources. Expert from Vietnam and Pakistan, but also the same India, China and Russia are forging valuable professionals for this kind of jobs. Highly qualified staff will offer very low prices for activities with high-tech content, often complicit in the very low living standards of their countries. Let us pause a moment to reflect … “If in my country gain only a few dozen dollars a month while being a professional, meanwhile working for this organizzations I can gain 1000 or 10000 times in a relatively short period of time. I do not answer to avoid offending your intellect.

But at this point you can tell me that the estimates of expenditure are not correct . The last time I spoke of 49 million dollars and now of costs infinitely smaller. There is something wrong! Probably commissioned developing activity in this scenario are those with lower value added. The core of the product, its development, is tightly in the hands of those who designed the malware. Job opportunities such as these may be the result of comparative analysis of solutions implemented or deploy an upcoming test, both hypotheses are very alarming.

It ‘true, however, that increasing attention is given by the global safety agencies increasingly aware of this growing market. Social networks, forums, specialized sites, all under control and with this in mind I can find a reason to the research of this post. Publishing the request on freelancer someone is able to test the availability of specialists to hire. Fundamental Information for who must have a  cyber defense strategy and does not know number and capacity of their opponents.

The last and intriguing hypothesis is that the security Agencies around the world, just prepared to respond to a strategic cyber defense that many countries are implementing, have adopted these channels to select qualified personnel to start a training aimed at creating a powerful new cyber army.

Each of the scenarios presented raises many concerns. The world is changing and so are the strategies of offense … nothing is predictable, and is known as the unforeseeable can scare!

Pierluigi Paganini

References

http://press.pandasecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-Cyber-Crime-Black-Market.pdf

http://www.freelancer.com/projects/PHP-Javascript/Need-expert-customised-botnet.html