Threat Management

Cybercriminals lose millions to other threat actors

Millions of dollars are being stolen from cybercriminals by fellow threat actors on the dark web, with at least $2.5 million in illicit funds lost to dark web scammers in three major cybercrime forums over the past year, according to ZDNET. Dark web scammers have been targeting cybercriminals due to their low risk stemming from the lack of police involvement and the inconsequential punishment of being banned from the forum when identified as attackers, a Sophos report showed. However, such operations could provide insights into averting malicious attacks, as documents submitted by aggrieved cybercriminals during the arbitration process, including screenshots of source code, private conversations, and chat logs, may shed light on the alliances and vulnerabilities of cybercrime actors. "If there's a takeaway from all this, it's that no user is immune; any trade on criminal forums involves an inherent risk of scams. While there are both proactive and reactive (arbitration rooms) measures in place, scammers are not only common, but judging by the data we gathered often successful," said Sophos Senior Threat Researcher Max Wixey.

Get daily email updates

SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news

By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.