The flourishing fraud economy
One economy apparently isn't hurting these days - the one run by identity thieves in the dark corners of the internet. Demand and prices remain stable for stolen credit cards, identity numbers and other private information, according to a new study by security software maker Symantec.
Meanwhile, the supply of such data is steady too, thanks to the way the recession has inspired new scams targeting people who are worried about work and their finances, according to the Symantec report and another study from Gartner (NYSE: IT) More about Gartner released last week.
"There's no pricing pressure at all - it's not dropping, they're not negotiating down," said Alfred Huger, vice president of Symantec Security Response. "That tells us that there are still the same number of buyers. The underground economy has not been affected by the recession."
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