Researchers uncover 'Golden Cash' botnet trading platform
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Cybercriminals have been buying and selling access to infected PCs for use in malware-distributing botnets at a web platform called Golden Cash, according to a web security report from Finjan.
In its Cybercrime Intelligence Report released Wednesday, Finjan said the advanced trading platform "marks a new milestone in the cybercrime evolution," with the website offering an exploit toolkit with obfuscated code and an attack toolkit to distribute malware.
"By turning compromised PCs from a one-time source of profit into a digital asset that can be bought and sold again and again, cybercriminals are maximizing their illegal gains," the report said.
On the buyer side of the trading platform, batches of 1,000 malware-infected PCs (botnets) can be purchased for $5 up to $100, depending on territory. Partners are paid for successfully distributing the botnet and collecting FTP-credentials of legitimated websites through the infected PCs.
On the seller side of the trading platform, cybercriminals sell batches of 1,000 botnets for $25 up to $500, Finjan said.
"In addition to stealing data and selling them on, [cybercriminals] now also trade compromised PCs to as many buyers, sellers and partners as possible," said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CTO of Finjan.
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