A Hacker's Tool Kit - Cybercrime is growing ever more pervasive—and costly.

Cybercrime is growing ever more pervasive—and costly. According to researcher Cybersecurity Ventures, the annual cost of cybercrime globally will rise from $3 trillion in 2015 to $6 trillion in 2021. Enabling this boom are thriving marketplaces online, where hackers sell tools and services to criminals. Virtually anything is available for the right price, points out Andrei Barysevich, director of advanced collection (“a fancy name for ‘spy,’ ” he says) at threat intelligence firm Recorded Future. A former consultant for the FBI’s cybercrime team in New York, Barysevich trawled the shadiest corners of the web to compile the cybercrime shopping list above, exclusively for Fortune. In the market for some basic malware? It’ll cost you as...

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Check if you were hit by the massive 'Avalanche' cybercrime ring

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. government has posted links for free scanning programs so companies and individuals can check their computers to make sure they weren't victims of a massive, international cyber criminal operation that was taken down Thursday after a four-year investigation. “This is probably the biggest operation that law enforcement has ever done against cyber crime,” said Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist with BitDefender, one of the dozens of companies worldwide that worked with law enforcement to attack the group. The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US_CERT) has posted links to five scanners on its site. Europol has also posted a list of sites in multiple languages for potentially infected users. The malware only affects systems running the Microsoft...

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‘AVALANCHE’ NETWORK DISMANTLED IN INTERNATIONAL CYBER OPERATION

On 30 November 2016, after more than four years of investigation, the Public Prosecutor’s Office Verden and the Lüneburg Police (Germany) in close cooperation with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Department of Justice and the FBI, Europol, Eurojust and global partners, dismantled an international criminal infrastructure platform known as ‘Avalanche’. The Avalanche network was used as a delivery platform to launch and manage mass global malware attacks and money mule recruiting campaigns. It has caused an estimated EUR 6 million in damages in concentrated cyberattacks on online banking systems in Germany alone. In addition, the monetary losses associated with malware attacks conducted over the Avalanche network are estimated...

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Facts About Remote Access Trojans (RATs) vs AlienSpy

AlienSpy is the latest in a family of RATs which target both consumers and enterprises in a bid to steal valuable data and compromise systems. Remote Access Trojans (RATs) never fully vanish; instead, they are often recycled and redeveloped in the changing cybersecurity landscape. These kinds of Trojans, often deployed through phishing campaigns which use spoof emails and malicious files to deliver malware payloads, can be tailored to target particular industries -- such as banking or manufacturing -- or be used indiscriminately against both consumers and businesses. In a security advisory (.PDF) posted Thursday, security firm Fidelis said the newly-discovered AlienSpy Trojan is currently being used in international phishing campaigns against both consumers and the enterprise,...

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Top 5 threat protection best practices

1. Control outbound content as well as inbound.Data loss can be accidental or malicious. Human error, carelessness, or a lack of data security can lead to data loss, such as sending an e-mail attachment containing personally identifiable information (PII) to an unauthorized recipient. Most companies’ firewalls are set up to block incoming traffic, but data is sent off network on common ports like IRC, SMTP, and HTTP.2. To protect against malware, block access to Web ports and scan traffic.With one new Web page infected every 4.5 seconds, the Web is now the number one vector of attack for cybercriminals. Taking advantage of Web infrastructure vulnerabilities, attackers covertly inject malicious code into legitimate Web sites. This Web-based...

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Data Leakage for Dummies

Request your free copy now - HERECreate strategies for data-risk management Prevent data loss from your computers and devices Protect your network from data leakage US Sophos Antivirus - Learn more! Click H...

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Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms Adware Access 97 macro virus AppleScript Worm Application AutoCAD LISP (AutoLISP) virus Batch file worm BIOS Bluetooth Chain letter CMOS settings Companion virus Controlled application Controlled device Corel Script virus Dialer Distributed Computing DOS Boot Sector virus DOS executable file virus DOS worm Dropped files Dropper Excel formula virus Excel macro virus Excel 97 macro virus Exploit False alarm -Fam and -Gen Hacking tool HIPS Java virus JavaScript virus JavaScript worm Joke Junk Keystroke Logger Linux executable file virus Linux worm Macintosh file virus Macintosh worm Macromedia Flash infector Malicious behavior Malware MapBasic program Master Boot Sector virus Mid infecting mIRC or pIRCH script worm Misunderstanding MSH virus MMS Name Office 97 macro virus PalmOS...

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