Hackers Making Money Off Vista

[Dubh Aingeal]

Underground hackers are hawking a zero-day exploit for Windows Vista at $50,000 a pop, according to computer security researchers at Trend Micro. The Windows Vista exploit, which has not been independently verified, was just one of many zero-days available for sale at an auction-style marketplace infiltrated by the anti-virus vendor. Prices for exploits for unpatched code execution flaws are in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. Bots and Trojan downloaders that typically hijack Windows machines for use in botnets were being sold for about $5,000."

From the article:

According to [Trend Micro CTO Raimund] Genes, the typical price of a destructive exploit has increased dramatically, driving an underground market that could exceed the value of the legitimate security software business. 'I think the malware industry is making more money than the anti-malware industry,' Genes said.