CIOs point out that similar to other industries, cybercriminals also require cybersecurity solutions and hosting
IT leaders acknowledge that as organizations have increasingly adopted digital transformation measures, cybercriminals have also increased their efforts to breach the security architecture and steal data.
In fact, cybercrime will be the second-most worrisome issue for global enterprises for at least another decade, experts say. It is by all appearances a very profitable business, as estimates indicate that cyber criminals earn a minimum of $1.5 trillion per year via malicious activities, across the globe.
CIOs say that the dark web industry has grown significantly in the past couple of years. This includes requirements for stolen personal details, credit card information, etc. To meet the demands, cybercriminals need to use a range of underground hosting and relevant solutions.
Such products include anonymizers, distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection, a virtual private network (VPNs), bulletproof hosting, etc. These tools enable these nefarious actors to run their businesses and protect them.
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Often the tools created, to enable availability and protect the data for organizations, are manipulated by such cyber hackers. They tend to block forensics, anonymity, masking physical locations, and boost IP spoofing.
CISOs spell out that cybercrime is a sprawling industry that is directly in competition to the enterprise and security environment. They use the same platforms and marketing techniques as deployed by legitimate organizations.
In a recent study by Trend Micro, a Dark Web site offered compromised US-hosted servers with servers priced in the range of $3-$6 for a minimum of 12 hours. Such services are often invitation-only and available even on legitimate sites like Telegram, Twitter, and VK.
Identifying the difference between legal business and cybercrime
CIOs say that it has become increasingly difficult to identify legal third-party vendors and malicious actors. Hosting providers serve both legitimate business and shady actors. Their services are often sold openly on the internet, often their clients were resellers who deal with nefarious individuals. Hosting vendors are often unaware of which client they are servicing.
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Bulletproof hosters are mostly associated with cybercrimes. Often such regular hosting vendors try to expand their business prospects by targeting specific clients. Most hosts are ready to provide legalized services for the clients but at a price. Dark web transactions often take place via currencies like Bitcoin which makes it harder to detect hackers.
DDoS botnet issue
CISOs believe that DDoS-for-hire has become a menace for most organizations due to its easy availability. A botnet needs control-and-command servers similar to legitimate enterprises.
Any user with tools like domain generation algorithms can deploy their infrastructure faster than the detection tools used by Security personnel. Organizations say that booster and stressor products have made it easier for hackers to launch their attacks.
A simple mouse click can destroy the organizations monetarily and its reputation too. End-users will lose their data entrusted to police, financial, and government institutions. Cybersecurity institutions and law enforcement groups often take down booter websites when mitigating hackers.
Booter sites are those which allow criminals access to a network of infected or network computers to launch such DDoS breaches.
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Enabling better cyber resilience
C-suite executives acknowledge that cybercrime tends to spend rapidly. Organizations need to build their security profile to be impervious to DDoS attacks. Increased usage of IoT has resulted in more number of unprotected devices.
5G adoption will potentially increase the speed of attacks. It will then be the responsibility of the CIOs to develop a sound strategy that can detect and prevent such attempts.
