Author: Mike McGuire / Source: VentureBeat
Last April, I started a conversation with cybersecurity company Bromium. The company was keen to uncover where the streams of revenue generated by cybercrime eventually go and whether this money is ultimately supporting other areas of crime.
Over the past 10 months, I have been examining this question, and I must say there have been some eyebrow-raising findings.While there has been a lot of research into areas such as the “cost” and the mechanisms of cybercrime, there is far less awareness and understanding of how cybercrime functions as an integrated set of criminal practices. As a result, the tech community tends to focus on technical factors, such as malware types, security holes, and how to prevent certain types of attacks. My goal was to get a better sense of how the cybercrime economy works.
Cybercrime revenues reach $1.5 trillion
Though it constitutes a relatively new criminal economy, cybercrime is already generating at least $1.5 trillion in revenues every year, according to my research. This is a conservative estimate, based only data drawn from pnly five of the highest profile, most lucrative varieties of revenue-generating cybercrimes:
Looking at cybercrime revenues gives us a new way of understanding these offenses compared to measuring cybercrime in terms of the losses it causes. The earnings of individual cybercriminals within such categories exceed their counterparts in the traditional crime world. And while total revenue from traditional crime is probably still higher overall, it is by no means clear how long this will continue – especially given the increasing interdependence between cyber and traditional methods, as for example, in counterfeiting.
There is evidence that cybercriminals’ revenues often exceed those of legitimate companies – especially at the small-mid range size. In fact, revenue generation in the cybercrime economy takes place at a variety of levels, from large “multinational” operations that can generate profits of over $1 billion to small scale operations, where profits of $30,000- $50,000 are more the norm.
And individual earnings from cybercrime are now on average,10-15 percent higher than most traditional crimes.
High-earning cybercriminals can make $166,000+ pe rmonth. Middle-earners can make $75,000+ per month.
And low-earners can make $3,500+ per month.
Disposal of cybercrime Funds
Now to answer Bromium’s question: Are cybercriminal revenues supporting further cybercrime? Looking at interview and observational data of a sample of individuals either convicted or currently engaged in cybercriminal activities, I found that:
- 15 percent of cybercriminals spent the majority of their revenues on covering immediate needs – such as buying diapers or paying bills.
- 20 percent focused on disorganized or hedonistic spending – for instance, buying drugs or paying prostitutes.
- 15 percent directed their revenues towards more calculated spending to attain status, or to impress partners and other criminals – for example, buying expensive jewelry.
- 30 percent converted some of their revenues into assets – such as property.
- 20 percent used at least some of their revenues to reinvest in…
The post The Web of Profit: A look at the cybercrime economy appeared first on FeedBox.