why would criminals pay $75,000 for a Windows XP vulnerability and $50,000 for a Windows Vista vulnerability?

Question

i just read an article about "Port 80".

Why would people want to pay so much money, what do they get out of it, free advertising?


I don't understand, sounds like a pretty expensive practical joke. I love our internet, why are people wanting to spoil such a marvellous thing?

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6178930.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdnn

Answer 1

Port 80 is all http traffic. Going to about any web page, such as Yahoo, is going to use port 80 on a computer.

Criminals will pay for an active exploit to web traffic because it will allow them to take over machines more easily. This is why they will pay more for an XP exploit, because there are far more XP machines than Vista.

By taking over a machine, they can use the machine as part of a large network of other machines. This network can be used to hit websites with a Denial of Service attack, can be used to send out spam email, or be used to quickly transmit new virsuses, and without the PC owner knowing about it. And what's worse is, people pay to use these networks. They will pay to use the network to send spam, they will pay to have a website flooded offline.

Unfortunately, this isn't a joke. This is why people say to keep your machines up to date with patches and to use a good virus scanner. Because other people are ready and willing to trash your PC and use it for their own purposes.

Answer 2

Because the criminals can make even more money by infecting other people's computers. To them it is just an investment or a normal cost of doing business.

There are huge profits to be made by putting thousands of computers into a "botnet" and using them to send millions of spam e mails, using them to host illegal web content or use them to attack other servers for the purpose of extorting money from them.

It's all about making money. Perhaps Eugene Kaspersky, founder of anti-virus maker Kaspersky Labs said it best, " It's a different world today. 10 years ago, we were fighting against smart kids who hacked as a hobby. Now, we're dealing with criminal gangs that control your computer to make money. Different world, different protections."
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2074772,00.asp?kc=EWEWEMNL121806EP24A

Just as in "real" life, the web is full of con-men, crooks, scammers, and charlatans.

Don't let your guard down.