New report on cybercrime shows it's true costs

A new report by PandaLabs, The Cyber-Crime Black Market: Uncovered, shows gives provides a glimpse inside the economies of cybercrime--such as the details of exchange for purchasing stolen identity goods.

It is quite surprising how inexpensive it can be to purchase a stolen credit card or gain information on a bank account with an average balance of 6 or more figures. Even though this economy is the black trade of cybercrime, sellers still need to compete competitively, the report shows. For instance, sellers will provide bulk discounts or offer a free trial period on stolen financial goods.

The transactions themselves are largely anonymous--the enhance of money is placed through services like Western Union, Liberty Reserve or WebMoney.

There has been a considerable rise during the financial downturn in malware that targets Windows machines and websites that offer for sale objects of cybercrime. The malware is ever frequently attempting to get bank data from unsuspecting users with the goal of selling that data within online anonymous exchanges.

A sample of average prices from these markets include: credit cards details from $2 to $90 and bank credentials with a guaranteed balance from $80 to $700.

Source: PanadaLabs and PanadaLabs Blog, 2011