The Mass Effect - How Opportunistic Workers Drift into Cybercrime

Explore a Black Hat conference presentation that delves into the often-overlooked impact of massive groups supporting criminal activities in cybercrime. Uncover the context and motivations of individuals involved in spreading the Geost banking Trojan through large-scale statistical analyses of behaviors in one of the largest informal online markets. Learn about the "mass effect" phenomenon, where a primary pathology generates an inflating mass that pressures its surroundings, increasing the initial problem's scale. Discover how dubious activities are hosted through a hide-in-plain-sight approach. Follow the research journey depicting the actors involved in botnet operations, their motivations, and challenges. Gain insights into the informal market that grounds these criminal activities and understand the broader implications for cybersecurity.