Black market sells credit cards for 50 cents
2:21PM
Wednesday April 09, 2008
The busy black market for bank details, credit cards and even full identities is growing unchecked. Photo / Martin Sykes
The internet black market for credit cards, bank details and even full identities is growing quickly, according to the latest web security report.
Security specialist Symantec says a highly organised underground economy allows cybercriminals to quickly trade stolen and confidential information.
The company's twice-yearly Internet Security Threat Report also said that the web had easily become the primary conduit of attack activity.
Online users can increasingly be infected simply by visiting everyday websites, including popular social networking sites where users happily and habitually upload large amounts of personal information.
It said that the price of a credit card within the plentiful black market depended on factors like the physical location of the issuing bank, but could be as little as 50 cents.
Bank account details, which account for a massive 22 per cent of available 'goods' can be bought for just $12.50.
Full identities made up 9 per cent of items for sale, and Symantec warned that type of theft increased 6 percent during 2007.
