Exploit Kits, The Scourge of Cyberspace

Dark Net reveals how hackers exploit vulnerabilities - SFGate: ".... Users think they are clicking legitimate links to legitimate websites, and they still get infected with malware that carries bad consequences. For example, a hacker can encrypt a users' files - documents, photographs or videos - in a "crypto locker" and not release the data until the victim pays ransom... Nearly 70 percent of exploit kits originate in Russia, where cybercrime laws are relatively weak, according to a report by research firm Solutionary. In recent years, a thriving, coordinated underground economy has emerged, a place where criminals swap cash to develop and update the kits, identify targets and rent the "weapons" for as little as $50 a day. "These black markets are growing in size and complexity," according to a report by Rand Corp., a Washington think tank. "The hacker market - once a varied landscape of discrete, ad hoc networks of individuals initially motivated by little more than ego and notoriety - has emerged as a playground of financially driven, highly organized and sophisticated groups.... " (read more at link above)

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