According to experts, 9 out of every 10 (about 90%) dark web users are looking for a hacker who can supply them with certain cybercriminal equipment or obtain a user database.
This finding is supported by research studies undertaken by organizations such as Positive Technologies, which investigated online behaviors across 10 of the most prominent dark web forums that specialize in everything from website hacking to database buying and selling.
According to Positive Technologies, there is a growing demand for hacker-for-hire services and stolen data; the cyber firm links this reality to major organizations’ greater use of internet channels of work during the COVID-19 issue.
Researchers discovered that acquiring access to a web resource is the most typical reason for consumers to seek assistance from dark web forums, accounting for 69 percent of all ad enquiries on the underground forums.
The second most prevalent question in the forums, accounting for 21% of all questions, was about acquiring user or customer datasets from specific resources. The investigators revealed that the people most interested in obtaining this type of information were largely rivals and spammers who collect addresses for targeted phishing attacks aimed to target certain groups.
Furthermore, approximately 7% of dark web forum messages included people advertising their services to breach online platforms, while 3% were interested in marketing hacking enablers (including tools and guidelines) and interacting with like-minded individuals to share hacking experience.
The researchers also discovered a persistent high demand for access to online markets, with prices ranging from $50 to $2,000 to buy and sell hacking services and website access. This is spread by the fact that many buyers enter their credit card information on such platforms, giving cybercriminals the ability to implant malicious JavaScript code into the sites, capturing the personal information keyed into the platforms.
A Positive Technologies analyst commented on the February 2021 article, saying that the firm has noticed an uptick in interest in website hacking since March last year, as demonstrated by a surge in the number of linked adverts across darknet forums.
Yana Yurakova, the analyst, ascribed the findings to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has compelled a slew of firms to shift their essential operations online. It goes without saying that these businesses had no choice but to convert their offline approach to online client involvement in order to preserve tight ties.
Hacker-for-Hire Services on the Dark Web
Comparitech has completed a study to determine how much it would cost to hire a hacker on the dark web.
To reach their conclusion, the detectives investigated over 100 dark web listings from 12 hacking services in order to determine how much the services would cost an interested party.
Despite Comparitech’s warning on their website that they do not condone unlawful activity on the dark web, their findings provide an indication of how much you would need to pay in order to benefit from the many hacking services being advertised online (See below).
Figure 1: A chart depicting the various dark web hacking services in demand (Source: Comparitech)
According to Comparitech, the bulk of the dark web portals surveyed had identical menus and product listings in terms of hacker-for-hire services. The researchers went on to say that current dark web rates are not fixed, and that individual purchasers should consider haggling with service vendors to get the most value for money.
However, hacker-for-hire services are often charged based on a number of elements pertaining to unique conditions for both buyer and seller interests. The complexity, duration, risk, and magnitude of a task will all have a big impact on the final amount you’ll be asked to pay for specific services (See graph below).
Figure 2: A graph depicting the average cost of popular dark web hacking services (Source: Comparitech)
On the surface, it appears that a lot of trends may be identified in the debate over how hacking services are categorised. Personal attacks, such as slander, legal sabotage, and financial disruption, are among the most expensive services that users may obtain.
Changing school grades came in second, with social media hacking being the most often mentioned service.
Comparitech made the general remark that all hacker-for-hire services wanted upfront fees from interested buyers. Prospective clients would be instructed to contact the threat actors via encrypted chat applications or secure mail. However, a lot of hacker websites guaranteed reimbursements in the event of unsuccessful hacking jobs.
Furthermore, the bulk of the hacking services reviewed by the researchers appeared to set realistic expectations for consumers, with vendors stating that they only accept jobs that are within their talents and abilities. Indeed, one dark web group stated that approximately 5-7% of cases are totally unsuccessful.
Furthermore, many hackers say that they can complete a job in 24 hours, although more sophisticated missions can take days or weeks when infiltrating networks and corporations that appear to have very effective OPSEC.
What Are the Exact Costs?
As previously said, pricing for hacker-for-hire services varies depending on the different aspects that influence a successful hacking job.
Personal Cyberattacks
On the dark web, the average cost of personal attack services is $551. A threat actor launches a personal attack against your personal target utilizing a variety of tools and tactics.
Some of the current methods include financial sabotage, producing legal troubles for your chosen victim, and public slander. When it comes to personal attacks, cybercriminals don’t play favorites; your target victim could even be presented as a consumer of child sex abuse content.
Still in this category, some hacking services offer “scammer revenge” or “fraud tracking” services to people who want to hunt down a scammer or gain access to their personal information.
Changing School Grades
With an average price of $526, this is one of the most sought-after hacker-for-hire services on the dark web; it is also one of the most costly hacker services available in 2021.
Buyers in this category can pay cybercriminals to hack into their school system and change their academic grades and attendance records. The service is available to both elementary and secondary schools.
As an added bonus, some dark web hackers will offer to steal the answers to upcoming exams and assessments.
Social Media Account Hacking
The typical cost of this service is around $230. Comparitech researchers discovered that this is the most common sort of dark web listing. The way it works is that hackers will offer to hijack or spy on your target victim’s social media accounts.
It’s worth noting that the hackers claim to be able to access all popular social media platforms – it turns out that WhatsApp ranks first among social media apps discussed on dark web forums.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Skype, Telegram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Reddit are among the other social media platforms (See the listing below).
Figure 3: A ToRReZ Market advertisement for a professional Facebook hacker for hire.
Keep in mind that the cost of the service varies depending on the social networking site with which you wish to work. The same variety might be noticed in the motivation behind the planned cyberattacks.
The majority of requests for hacking events targeting Facebook and Twitter accounts appear to be for credential theft and account takeover. WhatsApp, on the other hand, is reserved for clients who want to eavesdrop on messages, take screenshots, or backup their data.
There was no specific process that was customary for cyberattack situations using social media platforms. However, malware and social engineering were often mentioned as the most typical tactics used to coordinate the breaches.
This revelation emphasizes how hackers rely on the prospect of duping victims into clicking on malicious links or attachments. This means that victims must take action in order for hackers to succeed in their mission.
Boosting Credit Scores
A number of dark web forums feature listings for hackers who claim to be able to improve buyers’ credit scores or remove their debt.
To gain access to this service, you may be requested to pay a fixed fee of $257, or the hacker may want a portion of your funds. Others even claim to be able to remove your name from loan defaulter blacklists.
Website Hacking
Website hacking costs an average of $394. This category includes options for targeting websites and other internet-dependent services. Some hacker groups claim to be able to break into any online platform and obtain access to either the underlying web server or the online platform’s management panel.
Others promise to be able to steal databases and administrator credentials for your unique purposes. It is also worth noting that, in addition to websites, online game servers and other internet infrastructure may be targeted by paying for hacker-for-hire services.
Distributed Denial-Of-Service (DDoS) Attacks
We are all aware of how catastrophic DDoS attacks can be. As early as 2019, administrators of dark web marketplaces and forums blamed Tor weaknesses for the ongoing incidence of DDoS attacks on the hidden web. For example, many darknet pundits blamed the 2019 demise of Dream Market (the darknet behemoth of the time) on a persistent DDoS attack tied to a vulnerability in the Tor network.
DDoS assaults can, in fact, be utilized by forums and markets to target and disrupt their competitors or law enforcement agencies. The severity of these attacks has put administrators of dark web sites on high alert.
It turns out that all of the cyber defenses that market and forum owners are constantly investing in aren’t doing much to keep DDoS attacks at bay. The issue is exacerbated by the fact that most threat actors are more determined than the people behind vulnerable markets and forums.
Worse, the availability of relatively inexpensive DDoS rental services may make it difficult for DDoS attackers to quit the dark web scene. Numerous threat actor assessment studies have been published by cybersecurity, revealing the presence of DDoS renting services for as little as $10 per hour, or $200 per day.
You can pay a threat actor the above tiny hourly fee to launch and maintain DDoS attacks for as long as you can afford to pay. Take notice that fees may rise if an attacker is likely to target online platforms with DDoS defense measures such as Cloudflare.
The price varies in relation to the amount of bandwidth required to coordinate an assault, which means that prices can be as low or as high as the prospective consumer desires.
Custom Malware
You may literally pay a dark web hacker $318 to obtain custom software, which could include anything from keyloggers to botnets and ransomware.
Ransomware assaults, like DDoS attacks, are extremely powerful. The countless incidents involving dark web ransomware groups that have planned attacks that have brought entire government infrastructures to their knees highlight this reality.
The REvil ransomware organization is one illustration of how software can be destructive. REvil, believed to be based in Russia, has been linked to some of the most significant cyberattacks of 2021. This year, the ransomware group infiltrated America’s largest meat supplier JBS and extorted over $11 million from the company.
The ransomware organization would later stage another assault against multinational IT supplier Kaseya, demanding a $70 million ransom for access to encrypted victim files.
REvil’s web services vanished from the internet under mysterious reasons just two weeks after the Kaseya breach.
Location Tracking
This is another kind of hacker-for-hire services available on the dark web. You can hire a threat actor to track a person’s location online for $195. This is often accomplished by monitoring the target victim’s cellphone’s IP address. Some hackers may even use open-source intelligence to try to locate the target.
Aside from that, the average cost of hacking into people’s computers and mobile phones is $343. It comprises breaking into company and personal devices to steal sensitive information, install malware, or engage in other criminal conduct.
What’s more, for the same amount, you may pay someone to deploy remote administration tools against your target, allowing you to breach your victim’s devices via the internet. It turns out that all operating systems, including Windows, iOS, MacOS, Linux, Android, and even Blackberry, are vulnerable to this type of malware.
Hacking Emails
Email hacking services cost approximately $241. It entails stealing the target account holder’s password, which sets the stage for other operations.
To begin, the hacker may provide you with the victim’s password, or you may urge the hacker to penetrate the email account themselves in order to gather sensitive data and information. The hacker may also set up email forwarding to ensure that you, the customer, receive a copy of all emails sent to the target.
Summary
As demonstrated in this essay, you can basically employ hackers for everything that comes to mind. Aside from the categories mentioned above, you’ll be shocked to learn about the presence of many more hacker-for-hire services on darknet forums.
One of them is Bitcoin wallet recovery, in which a hacker can assist you in regaining access to your wallet and preventing your cryptocurrency from being permanently lost. COVID-19 vaccination hospital database hacking is another service available on the dark web.
Essentially, it allows you to eavesdrop on the data of vaccine recipients or even add your own identity to the database. This is especially useful for persons who are reluctant to get the vaccine but do not want to face any hassles or lost economic possibilities as a result of being unvaccinated.
hat in black SEO services can be used to alter search engine results in order to raise or lower the ranks of an online platform. This is combined with the more startling service of security audits, in which a dark web hacker analyzes the OPSEC of your site or other web-hosted service.