Does it Pay to be a Criminal Hacker?

Before i answer this question let me give you a screenshot of the following FBI Cyber most wanted:

from www.fbi.gov/wanted/cyber

Alexsey Belan:

Belan allegedly stole the user data and the encrypted passwords of millions of accounts and then negotiated the sales of the databases.

Two separate federal arrest warrants for Belan have been issued. One was issued on September 12, 2012, in the United States District Court, District of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, after Belan was charged with obtaining information by computer from a protected computer; possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices; and aggravated identity theft.

AlexseyBelan

 

 

Nicolae Popescu:

Nicolae Popescu is wanted for his alleged participation in a sophisticated Internet Fraud scheme where criminal enterprise conspirators, based in Romania and elsewhere in Europe, posted advertisements on Internet auction market sites for merchandise for sale. Such advertisements contained images and descriptions of vehicles and other items for sale, but those items did not really exist. Conspirators posing as sellers then negotiated via e-mail with unsuspecting buyers in the United States. These “sellers” sent fraudulent invoices,

 

nikolaepopescu

 

Ok, I will stop putting up these top10 most wanted details (after the most wanted details(last one):

Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev:

Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, using the online monikers “lucky12345” and “slavik”, is wanted for his alleged involvement in a wide-ranging racketeering enterprise and scheme that installed, without authorization, malicious software known as “Zeus” on victims’ computers. The software was used to capture bank account numbers, passwords, personal identification numbers, and other information necessary to log into online banking accounts.

evgeniybogachevfbimostwanted

 

 

Now let’s talk about how much money these guys would make if they were software engineers or otherwise in the IT world in their respective countries.

Romania:  €2000-3000 per month    http://www.zdnet.com/article/life-is-pretty-good-here-for-it-people-where-techies-earn-five-times-the-average-salary/

Russia: $3000 / month  http://www.software-russia.com/in_focus/issues/salaries-for-russian-programmers-up-in-2013

 

So even if one can make $3-5k per month as a software person, it only takes a small percentage of these it people to go rogue in a country that has a more advanced level of criminality (or at least they can hide within the protection of the state)

 

$500,000 in a week is doable: https://blog.kaspersky.com/luuuk/

 

So these 3 guys can hide well, make hundreds of thousands of dollars without getting caught. (some of the warrants are from 2012) So yes crime can pay.  Also there is a $3mil reward for information that leads to Mr. Bogachev’s arrest.

 

Another aspect with this phenomenon  is the very reason we have set up this website:

Whenever you connect your computer to the Internet (or phone or other device) you are connected to these guys.

And they are conspiring to get you every day of the week.  They do not have the 4th of July off, when you are off or sleeping they are working and reying to take over your computer so they can make their 10s of thousands of dollars.

And we allow them since we are not interested in security. We as a whole are more interested in just living our lives, working hard, trying to make ends meet (which can be hard sometimes).  But that is  not the world of these guys. They know how to make a trojan, how to hack your router if it is not patched.

If you do not have all problems fixed in your machines they will get in and try to make money – somehow, someway.

 

This is why we recommend to scan your network and computer systems With our service productsA,ΣΩ, and Ψ)

Contact Us

Thanks Arbornetworks, after reading your latest article http://www.arbornetworks.com/asert/2015/05/how-to-become-an-internet-supervillain-in-three-easy-steps/  I got inspiration for this article…

Arbornetworks is #20 in our Security News Analyzed page: http://oversitesentry.com/security-news-reviewed/

I will have to increase the standing of this site…

 

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