Phishing attacks escalate, DIY cybercrime kits to blame

It used to be that cybercrime was almost exclusively perpetrated by individuals and groups who had in-depth knowledge about the techniques, mechanisms and technologies on which the Internet is based on.

But, with the proliferation of DIY cybercrime kits, some criminals previously uninterested in this kind of crime found that the doors to online fraud were finally open to them, and it didn’t take them long to seize the opportunity.

How do we know this? Well, App River’s senior researcher Fred Touchette says that phishing campaigns at the beginning of 2009 were predictable and coming from familiar sources. Towards the end of the year – with DIY kits becoming cheaper and more user friendly – the number of blocked phishing emails was 10 times higher that the previous average, and they could be traced to non-traditional sources around the globe.

According to USA Today, the price for a kit ranges from $400 to $700, and it offers all the things you need to infect computers. The majority of these kits is customizable, so criminals can change phishing messages to suit their needs.

It seems that cybercriminals have tapped into a fresh market that will provide them with additional funds.