Because of users’ various connections and sharing habits, the
Internet has become a social hub similar to a virtual neighborhood.
However, not everyone on the Internet wants to socialize and create
connections. There are people out there who craft online threats
designed to steal your precious information, like your email address,
social security details, credit card and banking credentials. These are
the guys who are out to make a quick buck.
With millions of users going online every second, the Internet isn’t
exactly the safest place to be. In light of this, have you ever asked
yourself: how much do I know about my virtual neighbors?
Make no mistake about it: cyber-criminals are out there lurking around
your online neighborhood. They may pretend to be a trusted contact, a
well-known vendor, or even a new friend you made online.
For example, a social media scammer will have following characters.
Motive: Steal your social media login credentials
Modus Operandi: Spam the social media account with links to malicious videos, apps and promos.
Famous Line: "OMG! This is so FUNNY"
The attackers can vary from phishers, fake anti-virus creators, App trojanizers, spammers and Malvertisers.
The infographic also has details on how much money the cyber criminals
make from stolen data in black market. They will get $15 for 1000
Facebook accounts, $8 for 1000 web mail accounts, $75 for 2200 Twitter
accounts.
The price of credit card number will range from $1 to $10 depending on
the regions. A hacker gets $1 to $3 for a U.S. credit card number while
an Asian or Middle East credit card details will earn him $6 to $10.
"The difference in value can be accounted for supply and demand", said
Rik Ferguson, director of security at Trend Micro. "Security mechanisms
for U.S. cards are, in general, much lower than European ones, Chip and
PIN, for example, is hardly deployed at all in the U.S, which will make
the work easy for criminals", he explained.
