Hacked Irish computer details cost a few cents

Cyber criminals can now gain access to hacked Irish computers for record low prices of just a few cents.

According to Irish IT security firm, Smarttech.ie, access to dangerous malware (malicious software) has become “significantly easier,” with gangs of cyber criminals now selling DIY malware platforms.

To begin with, these gangs will infect millions of computers around the globe with malware, before then selling the list of infected users to other criminals who want to extort financial details from the infected computers.

According to the Cork-based IT security firm, criminals are now able to buy access to compromised Irish computers for as little as $0.10 per computer.

Smarttech.ie have reported that a price war has broken out among cyber criminals. In the USA, this has resulted in the cost of a hacked computer falling by nearly 50% since the start of 2014.

CEO of Smarttech.ie, Ronan Murphy, warned that it was now a buyers’ market if criminals want to launch a cyber attack and that Irish customers were falling prey to these attacks every day.

“Initially, they may not have had the skills to build and deploy the malware services themselves, but with this new user-friendly model they can buy it off the shelf. Also the appetite for this service is huge and competition has seen prices fall by 50% since the start of the year.”

“In the USA, cyber criminals will now sell a list of 10,000 computers that have been deliberately infected with a customised virus, for only $1,000 in total or $0.10 per computer. We see evidence on a daily basis of Irish customers who have also fallen prey to these global botnets,” he said.

Smarttech.ie warned that the scale of the cybercrime operations and the number of new entrants in the Malware as a Service (MaaS) market has resulted in “Malware” as an industry going mainstream, with cyber criminals offering extremely high levels of customer care.