Brazil is "cesspool of fraud" says guru

Brazilian hackers now more technically sophisticated than Russians, Fraud as a service model emerges.

In a talk at the RSA Conference Uri Rivner, head of new technologies for RSA Consumer Solutions revealed some startling new findings about the changing behaviour of the criminal gangs now controlling online crime.

Contrary to the popular view that Russian hackers led the world he revealed that it was Brazil where the latest malware, Trojans and tactics were being developed.

"Brazil is now a cesspool of fraud. The three main languages being used on criminal chat rooms and forums are now English, Russian and Portuguese.” he said.

He also revealed that Australia was the hackers favourite test market for new malware and attack methods.

Rivner revealed evidence of the very first “Fraud as a service” products being touted on underground market places, a trend that is sure to disturb law enforcement agencies across the world.

"For as little as $299 per month would-be criminals can have all the technical work done for them, sit back and wait for stolen financial lists to be delivered to them. The malware is developed for them, the hosting is done for them and any patches needed to defeat anti-malware is done for them.” he said.

Rivner showed a global criminal community becoming increasingly sophisticated and exploiting the same Web 2.0 tools that the legitimate world uses. 

Blogs, podcasts and forums have mushroomed although the recent successful infiltration by the FBI of DarkMarket has meant that criminals were becoming more suspicious of each other.

In some underground sites hackers even reviewed and rated their favourite Trojans just like mainstream technical publications.

See original article on scmagazineus.com