The Sophistication of the Dark Web Criminals of Today
January 11, 2017
Vendors of stolen credit card information on the dark web are now verifying their customers’ identities, we learn from an article at the International Business Times, “The Fraud Industry: Expect to be KYC’d by Criminals When Buying Stolen Credit Cards on the Dark Web.” Yes, that is ironic. But these merchants are looking for something a little different from the above-board businesses that take KYC measures. They want to ensure potential clients are neither agents of law-enforcement nor someone who will just waste their time. Reporter Ian Allison cites Richard Harris, an expert in fraud detection through machine learning, when he writes:
Harris said some websites begin with a perfunctory request that the buyer produce some stolen card numbers of their own to show they are in the game. ‘There are various websites like that where undercover cops have been caught out and exposed. Like anybody else, they are in business and they take the security of their business seriously,’ he said.
Things have moved on from the public conception of a hacker in a hoodie who might hack the Pentagon’s website one day and steal some credit card details the next. That was 10 or 15 years ago. Today this is a business, pure and simple. It is about money and lots of it, like for instance the recent hit in Japan that saw a criminal gang make off with ¥1.4bn (£8.9m, $13m) from over 1,400 ATMs in under three hours. They simultaneously targeted teller machines located in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Hyogo,Chiba and Nigata. The Japanese police suspect more than 100 criminals were involved in the heist.
Harris is excited about the potential for machine learning to help thwart such sophisticated and successful, criminals. The article continues with more details about today’s data-thievery landscape, such as the dark-web bulletin boards where trade occurs, and the development of “sniffers” — fake wi-fi hubs that entice users with a promise of free connectivity, then snatch passwords and other delectable data. Allison also mentions the feedback pages on which customers review dark-web vendors, and delves into ways the dark web is being used to facilitate human trafficking. See the write-up for more information.
Cynthia Murrell, January 11, 2017
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