Security News > 2020 > May > Oh cool, tech service prices are plummeting. And by tech services, we mean botnet rentals and stolen credit cards

At least that's according [PDF] to a Trend Micro whitepaper on the cost of criminal services, which says over the past five years the prices for botnet rentals and credit card numbers have taken a nosedive.

"In 2015, generic botnets started selling at around $200 in Russian underground forums. Generic botnet prices today cost around $5 a day, and prices for builders start at $100," Trend said.

"United States credit cards were sold at $20 in 2015, but prices start at $1 in 2020. High-balance credit cards are selling for over $500 in 2020. Meanwhile, monthly crypting services dropped to around $20." A crypting service is one that encrypts and obfuscates malware and other malicious code to evade detection.

Essentially, criminal services that once commanded fairly high prices are now commonplace, and as a result asking prices have plummeted.

Trend said the top pieces of banking malware, things like the Osiris trojan, still sell for around $3,000, and specialized services such as spamming are still able to command the same prices they fetched five years ago.

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/27/criminal_services_cheaper/