The Underground Hacking Economy

Fast Company profiles the rise of sites like Hackers List and Hackers For Hire, which provide consolidated markets for people to hire hackers to break passwords, alter databases, learn to operate malware, and more. People with the skills to circumvent security are putting themselves out there as freelancers for specific tasks, and people in need of their services are posting notices asking for help. Law enforcement agencies are warning about this new type of behavior, saying it's often illegal, and facilitated by online anonymity and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The number of deals currently being made through these sites remains small, but it's growing — particularly among business seeking to gain an advantage over competitors in other countries.

Comments

Stop it already

[ArcadeMan]

...facilitated by online anonymity and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

You mean the same anonymity that allows anyone to check all transactions ever done on a Bitcoin* wallet?

* and other similar crypto-currencies as well.

Re:Stop it already

[Anonymous Coward]

The ironic thing is that there are a lot of BitCoin apps which the first thing they demand is access to your bank account before they even think of letting you create a wallet. Yep, anonymity there.

BitCoin isn't anonymous:

1: Moving currencies to and from BTC is obvious, (bank shows 50 quatloos exchanged to BitCoins and the proceeds moved to wallet "X". Time to watch wallet "X" and follow the trails, busting everyone who receives currency from what wallet.)

2: You have to run the entire blockchain, all 40+ gigs of it every time you process every single transaction. Yes, there are shortcuts... but you then leave yourself open to double spending attacks.

3: Converting BTC to a usable currency also rings alarm bells, and LEOs can just wait for someone with the above wallets who received money from the person in item #1, then bust them.

BitCoin has its uses though:

1: Once a transaction happens, people who got paid stay paid. No chargebacks, no finding that later on, your BitCoins were counterfeit (assuming a blockchain run was done to protect against double spending.)

Re:Stop it already

[NotInHere]

So I just don't install that crappy app. That's no argument.

You don't have to make a full blockchain run for every transaction. If you have enough transactions, you can also make a list with valid/invalid wallets and their balance and use that to tell whether transactions are valid.

Re:Stop it already

[afeeney]

In the United States, at least, you can get any nonprofit's 990 form, either on their website or at www.guidestar.org. The 990 lists how much the top executives make, who their top vendors are, and how their budget gets spent.

Depending on the organization's lifecycle and purpose, about 15-20 percent of the budget on overhead is normal. A very new nonprofit has to spend a lot more on outreach and fundraising, as would a nonprofit that's raising funds for a major capital project.

I've found one of the most telling signs is a big gap between the CEO's salary and that of the next highest-paid staff. Unless there's some obvious reason (the CEO is the only full-time employee), that's the sign of a big CEO ego and a weak board.

The CEO and upper exec salaries should reflect their real market value, including the perks of the nonprofit sector. Most CEO turnover in the nonprofit world is voluntary, for example. In addition, the CEO of an organization with a lot of independent chapters has a lot less to do with their revenue stream than the CEO of one that's highly controlled from the parent organization.

Unless the organization is doing fundraising for a capital campaign, there shouldn't be big payments to professional fundraisers, compared to total income. Big consultant fees are another warning sign.