An Analysis of the Lucrative Hacking Industry 2023

In this article we will learn about An Analysis of the Lucrative Hacking Industry.

Introduction to An Analysis of the Lucrative Hacking Industry:

As hackers start to make money, they become sophisticated and very well organized, which increases their profits while minimizing their risk. Hackers have also become more or less cooperative in their behavior in creating a hacking business. Their business looks a lot like other great businesses on the market. They compete on quality, reputation and price. Additionally, they have a software development lifecycle and also offer software as a service (SaaS). Not only the similarity in many ways, but also their business practices have made them capable enough to be considered a competitor of well-known organizations like HP, Dell, Microsoft and others.

In this article, we will explore the business model of hackers, the different ways they make money from hacking, their motivation, profitability, level of risk and the strategies they have followed to grow significantly.

Types of business and their driving force

There are many categories of hacker groups such as organized crime, identity theft, cyber warfare, IP theft, extortion and bank fraud. Business types and their motivations differ in terms of payment potential and associated risk.

Also Read:The Hacker Methodology 2023

Businesses that are designed for pure monetary gain are involved in some scams and scams. There are many breach reports that have been reported before. Below are the types of businesses operating in the hacking industry.

Advertising fraud

In this type of scam, a hacker creates an ad page and gets bots to visit it to increase the number of impressions that generate fake ad traffic. Since the ad is showing, it has been paid for.

Credit card fraud

It is one of the biggest scams that are becoming popular these days. A hacker tends to get the card number and owner details which are further sold in the market. The details are also not disclosed, but unauthorized purchases are also made on the victim’s card, which is costly for the victim and profitable for the hacker.

Fraud in the payment system

This is a well-known scam currently spreading across the internet that involves stealing money from online payment systems such as PayPal, Apple Pay, Bitcoin and more. The attacker makes money by stealing the victim’s accounts or money laundering.

Bank fraud

It is a relatively old technique where an attacker hacks into a victim’s bank account through online banking and transfers the money to another account owned by the hacker. Money can also be made by selling banking vulnerabilities. These types of scams always lead to extensive investigation and tracking of the attacker, which is extremely risky for the hacker.

Medical records fraud

This scam involves stealing personally identifiable information (PII) from online medical records or portals of hospitals and other medical/healthcare systems. This data is then used for insurance fraud and identity theft. Since these types of attacks are new these days, there is a greater likelihood that we will see more scams in this context over time.

Identity theft

This is the most famous attack by hackers. In this attack, the victim’s identity is stolen, which includes address, social security number, credit information and other confidential details. The attacker makes money by selling this information; this sold information can be used for many of the above fraudulent purposes.

Harvest credentials

Hackers carry out these types of attacks daily. In these types of attacks, the user’s username and password are stolen through phishing sites. The attacker makes money by selling these details, or simply creates a database of multiple users’ details and then sells them on the underground market.

Bug Bounty

Identifying system vulnerabilities has become a lucrative business with its own market and players. In Bug Bounty, vendors and third-party programs from around the world such as (Microsoft, PayPal, etc.) invite freelancers to discover vulnerabilities in their systems before they are exploited.

Extortion

Extortion often targets higher authority, a company’s system and data center. In this attack, the attacker installs ransomware on the victim’s computer or system, which encrypts the file with a password and restricts the user’s access to the file, then demands money or other business deals for releasing the file.

IP theft

This type of attack involves stealing intellectual property from the target. This is used for impersonation purposes. The attacker makes money by selling this information to a competitor company or system. These types of attacks have been seen in the electronics industry (mobile phones, tablets), the entertainment industry (movies, software) as well as the defense industry (warplanes, weapons) and have a huge impact on individuals and organizations. .

Hacktivism

Hacktivism includes the least organized group of hackers who work for political or ideological purposes. They focus on the organization and individuals who have done something wrong. There are online activists who protest online against something they perceive to be wrong. There are three main types of hacktivism:

Difficulty:
This type of attack involves taking down a website and taking over a Twitter handle.

Disturbing:
This type of attack focuses on disrupting organizational functions through DDos, Spammer, Botnet attacks.

Destructive:
This type of attack destroys or renders the target data and systems useless.

Organizational culture

The underground market works on almost the same strategy that the traditional market works on, i.e. supply and demand. The information and tool that is the most critical on the market always pays more and vice versa.

Hacking businesses do not operate on hierarchical levels like traditional businesses. Each hacker works as an independent contractor providing value to the community. They choose their own working hours and options for working; they can also do independent work to complement their activities and needs. Some cyber crime businesses operate from nine to four in the afternoon. schedule Monday through Friday, while Monday morning is a hectic time of the week, apparently to catch up on the weekend.

The cyber crime community depends on anonymity. Hackers are known by their nicknames, their original identity remains mysterious and unknown to everyone, which gives the hacking business a strong obsession. Trust and a good reputation are the keys to entering the market. If the hacker is not trusted then it will be difficult to make money in the system. Trust is built by demonstrating your skills and being recognized by others in the industry.

Workforce Management

Workforce management includes the various tasks through which the workforce in an organization can be managed, it includes three main areas of responsibility, staffing, employee compensation and benefits. These three main roles are followed by various sub-roles that guide the management of the organization’s workforce.

In the hacking business, most of the jobs are contract based and some hackers do multiple jobs according to their convenience. Each activity directly or indirectly contributes to the final product. Attackers who contribute significantly more than others claim a higher commission.

Hacking business requires very little knowledge and skills to get started. In fact, some activities do not require computer skills, so entry into the hacking business is possible and easy for non-technical people. Below are examples of non-IT roles in the hacking business:

• Warranty services/checks
• Custodial service
• Recruitment
• Cyber ​​laundering
• Sales and Marketing
• Legal

Recruitment of new hackers is done through various blogs and forums as trust is a key part of hacking business so only an experienced hacker can survive and contribute effectively. One of the major problems in hacking business operations is the location from which the hacking is being conducted.

The cash flow system plays a vital role in the hacking business which converts earned underground money into legal money without any trace. One way to do this is to convert electronic currency into bitcoins, which can then be sold legally (in some countries). Another way is to create a fake online store and buy random items to get money out of stolen PayPal accounts.

Marketing and sales

Attackers must constantly work to invent and maintain their position and trust in the market. Where reputation and credibility are everything. They also regularly rate other hackers they do business with. One wrong move can destroy one’s credibility.

Strengths

Being an open source community means that the business of hacking is growing significantly. The tools are shared, allowing other hackers and novices to gain access to victims and develop new exploits. It also results in a highly flexible market.

Weaknesses

Every business has its own weaknesses; similarly, hacking business also has many weaknesses that limit hackers to do business twice. The main root of this weakness is anonymity, because no one knows who the other person is. This affects sales and operations. Additionally, creating a new alias reputation can cost them valuable time, effort, and money in guarantor fees, access to higher level forums, etc.

Opportunities

Hacking business opportunities are growing every day, even more than any other business in the market. Developing countries are moving towards new technologies for paying bills and accessing the Internet. Unfortunately, it creates new opportunities for attackers and cyber threats.

Threats

The nightmare of hacking businesses is caught; the threat is primarily new security technologies. These technologies, such as DNS malware analysis, slow down attackers and increase their risk of being caught, resulting in lower profits for them.