This little piggy went to market

The virtual marketplace we like to call the Internet is rife with shoppers - making all kinds of dodgy code and hacking tool purchases to make a quick illegal buck before Christmas.

All I want for Christmas is a toolkit? Hackers are now selling these for between $30 and $3 000, gaining a huge profit compared to a few years ago when they were freely available.

Oh, and buyers don`t have to feel overwhelmed post-purchase or give in to a bad case of buyer`s remorse - these handy value packs normally come with a complete "Hacking for Dummies"-style user guide.

Research shows that 38.2% of respondents said they would be willing to pay between $100 and $300 for exploit code. Another 14% said they would be willing to pay more than $1 000.

All I want for Christmas is a toolkit? Hackers are selling these for between $30 and $3 000, gaining a huge profit compared to a few years ago when they were freely available.

Ilva Pieterse, ITWeb journalist

Spam is jumping onto the money bandwagon in big way - but it was never doubted unsolicited e-mail would keep a low profile when money was to be made. It is no longer simply a tool for mass-mailing unwanted advertising, but is now being used in some cases to drive up certain prices on the stock market.

PandaLabs tells us there has been a series of mass-mailings containing stock market information, advising users to buy stocks in certain companies. In one of these cases, the mentioned company`s stock price increased significantly over a period of a few days, even rising 12% in a single day.

What`ll they think of next? We can only shudder to think.

If hacking into systems using traditional tools is not your thing, have no fear - there may be more excitement in VOIP hacking. After all, there are about 20 freely available VOIP hacking tools.

The tools, unveiled by David Endler and Mark Collier at the previous Black Hat hacking conference, can be found in their book titled: "Hacking VOIP exposed: Voice over IP security secrets and solutions".

Lest I forget - happy National Cyber Security Awareness month. Don`t forget to do your part to spread the security word.

CA and the National Cyber Security Alliance are revealing the results of a recent social networking study examining the link between specific online behaviour and the potential for becoming a victim of cyber-crime.

The study reveals that although 57% of people who use social networking sites worry about becoming a victim of cyber-crime, they are still divulging information that may put them at risk.

Furthermore, a whopping 83% of adults who are social networking are downloading unknown files from other people`s profiles, potentially opening their PCs up to attacks.

Whatever happened to not talking to strangers, using protection and looking left and right before crossing the road?

Try to be a bit more aware - not only in this special commemorative month, but from now on - things can only get worst where security issues are concerned.

Sources used: SearchSecurity, The Register, CA, PandaLabs