How Much Is Your Malware Infected Computer Worth?

About $5.  That’s how much your malware infected computer, or botnet, is selling for at the moment if you live in the US – but its stock could go up or down.  It’s worth $10 if you live in Australia.

Although I didn’t get enough time to put this report into my new book, Hacking Exposed: Malware and Rootkits, it is very interesting. Everyone is talking about this new report from the Finjan Malicious Code Research Center and it’s a doozy.  The report reveals a highly organized and sophisticated trading platform for cybercriminals called the Golden Cash Network.  The Golden Cash Network gives anyone the ability to buy or sell malware infected computers by the thousands – as well as provides an exploit toolkit with obfuscated code and an attack toolkit to distribute malware.

Say, for example, you want to advertise to thousands of users, or steal their identity for whatever insidious purposes.  Golden Cash makes it easy for you.  Just select the country and how many PCs you wish to control.  You can even specify the geographical area, and avoidance of firewalls or AV solutions.  Once you place your order, you are given access to detailed instructions on what you can do with your new botnets and how to do it.  The whole ordering process is done through simple, elegant, and easy to use forms – you’d almost think you were ordering from Amazon.

But what if you’re not an expert cyber criminal?  Can you still get in on the Golden Cash Network?

Absolutely, Golden Cash’s partner program makes it easy to contribute to their collection of botnets for easy cash.  Golden Cash again provides detailed instructions on how to distribute the Golden Cash bot into legitimate websites by using Iframes or inline frames.  These frames points to a malicious website that infects visitors with malware that is already integrated into the Golden Cash platform.

Depending on a number of factors, like geographic location, the value of botnet PCs constantly goes up or down in value.  Users try to buy low and sell high.  It’s just like Wall Street.

Finjan’s report concludes by describing how botnets are no longer a “one-time asset for an individual cybercriminal.”  Now they have “evolved into a digital asset that cybercriminals can trade online – over and over again!”

Tags: botnet, botnets, cybercriminals, Finjan, golden cash, golden cash network, infected computer, information technology, malicious code, malicious website, malware, malware infected PCs, toolkit, trading platform

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Tagged as: botnet, botnets, cybercriminals, Finjan, golden cash, golden cash network, infected computer, information technology, malicious code, malicious website, malware, malware infected PCs, toolkit, trading platform