The online publication, ItSpeciliast.com recently published some startling figures regarding the “going rates” for illegal activities committed by cybercriminals hired through the Darknet.  Included among them were:  $40 for a stolen US identity, $100 to hack a website, $20 to unleash an army of a thousand bots, and from $4 to $8 for one stolen U.S. credit card account including the CVV number.

I am not ashamed to admit that this information sent me and my subsequent life savings into a full blown, cybersecurity panic attack.  It was only after ensuring that my antivirus, antispyware, antiphishing, and firewall protection were all up to date that I was able to rest easy for a whole two minutes before having to breathe into a paper bag again over the fact that these measures ultimately seem do very little to protect my personal data from the Internet Dark Force.  Sure, investing in identity protection and installing critical security patches can help to reduce the probability of a cybercriminal treating him/herself to an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas on my dime, but none of these measures can guarantee that I will not be victimized one day by a cybercriminal.   In the same vein as organized crime, cybercrime is a very complicated issue.  While I know that there are factors that we have very little control over, I find myself wondering about the ones that we can.

What are your thoughts about cybercrime and the Darknet?  Is it possible to reduce or prevent this rapidly growing illicit activity?  What can we do collectively to take action and protect ourselves against this 21^st century scourge?

Teri-Lynn James,
Communications Specialist

The opinions expressed by this blogger are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions or views of TekSavvy Solutions Inc.