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Vista Zero-Day Exploit For Sale

Posted by kdawson on from the crack-bazaar dept.

Snakepit Bit writes "Underground hackers are hawking a zero-day exploit for Windows Vista at $50,000 a pop, according to computer security researchers at Trend Micro. The Windows Vista exploit, which has not been independently verified, was just one of many zero-days available for sale at an auction-style marketplace infiltrated by the anti-virus vendor. Prices for exploits for unpatched code execution flaws are in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. Bots and Trojan downloaders that typically hijack Windows machines for use in botnets were being sold for about $5,000." From the article: "According to [Trend Micro CTO Raimund] Genes, the typical price of a destructive exploit has increased dramatically, driving an underground market that could exceed the value of the legitimate security software business. 'I think the malware industry is making more money than the anti-malware industry,' Genes said."

4 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. Auctions by bucketoftruth · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Where are these online auctions for this information? Or does that information come with the same spam I get hawking "3 million email addresses for $1000!" I'd love to know what software they use to host such a site. I expect it's probably more secure than the pentagon's systems.

  2. closed systems by drDugan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    this seems a natural result of closed-source software companies

    I think it is a good thing: it goes to show that having closed systems puts information access at a premium instead of service and real, tangible results for your customers. Open source systems don't have this problem (they have others, 'bot' not this one).

  3. Re:l33t hax0r by AltGrendel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Finding the bug is one thing. Being able to write a program that will successfully exploit it on a consistent basis is another.

    --
    The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination

    - Douglas Adams

  4. Yeah, right by LaughingCoder · · Score: 5, Interesting
    ... according to computer security researchers at Trend Micro ...
    ... like Trend Micro doesn't have anything to gain by people thinking there are Vista exploits. Seriously, Norton, McAfee and Trend Micro are all worried that their golden goose may be cooked if Vista is significantly more secure than XP. And I loved the use of the cloak-and-dagger word "infiltrated" to strike further fear into people. This seems to me little more than a sad attempt to remain relevant by an anti-virus vendor.
    --
    The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.