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How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

krebsonsecurity.com

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Re: How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

#51

Post by jedberg »

ghaff wrote: post #47
balls187 wrote: post #4

This reminds me of the story in Freakanomics about the street level drug dealers making basically minimum wage, with the majority of the money going to high level traffickers who are typically firewalled through layers of middlemen.

It's common in a fair number of places: professional sports, music, book writing (among those doing it for money), acting, law (to a lesser degree). The very top does well, even very very well. Most everyone else scrapes by--if that. Most professional jobs aren't like that. Sure senior execs can make an outsized amount of money but most of the rank and file are still doing OK.

Law is more bimodal than a pyramid.

All those other ones you mentioned rely on popularity to determine one's paycheck, which is why they are all pyramids.

Re: How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

#52

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #30
im_down_w_otp wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I encounter often the opposite problem where I'm regularly telling people who are flailing around on Google to deal with some unexpected problem, "I don't know, but you know you will? An Oncologist/IP-attorney/electrician/etc. Instead of using Google to find a pile of amateurs' competing anecdotes, perhaps you can use it to find an actual expert who can help you?"

I see what you're saying, and I guess like most, I've experienced both: * A trivial technological problem that leaves my family helpless though it's literally the first hit on Google * A critical life-impacting issue, usually health but sometimes things like taxes or mortgage or household maintenance - things where trustworthy experts exist and are readily available here - and they go to random sketchy Facebook group…

There seem to be two modes here. There's an objective fact-checking mode, and a personal network of trust mode.

This becomes a problem when the personal network is made of people who rely on hearsay, and signals-of-belonging instead of evidence-based information.

It's also a problem when "official" experts aren't truly expert, for various possible reasons - including corruption, incompetence, deliberate bad faith, and others.

It's hard for people who think in one way to understand that others don't think in the same ways.

Re: How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

#54

Post by DominikD »

distribot wrote: post #50

Why would a person doing this type of crime reside in the US? I understand quality of life is higher than Russia, but Russia neighbors Latvia--her country of origin. It is confusing to me because if she were there, her activities would have been discovered but she would have had the tacit protection of the state.

She doesn't reside in US, read the text. She lives in Suriname and was just flying through (or temporarily to) the US.

Re: How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

#55

Post by ghaff »

jedberg wrote: post #51
ghaff wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's common in a fair number of places: professional sports, music, book writing (among those doing it for money), acting, law (to a lesser degree). The very top does well, even very very well. Most everyone else scrapes by--if that. Most professional jobs aren't like that. Sure senior execs can make an outsized amount of money but most of the rank and file are still doing OK.

Law is more bimodal than a pyramid. All those other ones you mentioned rely on popularity to determine one's paycheck, which is why they are all pyramids.

They're not really pyramids though. If you're a baseball player, you either make a lot of money by most people's standards, albeit for a possibly short career, or you basically don't make much at all, even if you can play in the minors.

Law isn't quite so stark. You don't have to be at a white shoe firm to do OK (corporate counsel, prosperous practice in a smaller city) but a lot of lawyers certainly make pretty modest salaries.

Re: How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

#56

Post by distribot »

DominikD wrote: post #54
distribot wrote: post #50

Why would a person doing this type of crime reside in the US? I understand quality of life is higher than Russia, but Russia neighbors Latvia--her country of origin. It is confusing to me because if she were there, her activities would have been discovered but she would have had the tacit protection of the state.

She doesn't reside in US, read the text. She lives in Suriname and was just flying through (or temporarily to) the US.

Yup, I commented before finishing the text based on where she was arrested.

The point still stands I think. Yes, it's not as flagrant as living in the US. But you'd think a person engaged in this kind of thing would feel reluctant to have a layover in a country that cooperates closely with US law enforcement let alone Miami.

Re: How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

#57

Post by ggggtez »

great_reversal wrote: post #38

Getting hired is just applying to another job posting. The interview process is two-step, with a project-based technical component. The job itself is also two-step: first year is similar to contract work, with good employees brought into the fold not long after. It looks like DOJ is trying to make an example out of some lowly frontend/freelance developer. Her work includes: - creating a "web panel used to access vict…

I don't think it's obvious at all.

They gave one example of how she got hired, but not a comprehensive list of every feature she made.

Re: How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

#58

Post by jedberg »

ghaff wrote: post #55
jedberg wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Law is more bimodal than a pyramid. All those other ones you mentioned rely on popularity to determine one's paycheck, which is why they are all pyramids.

They're not really pyramids though. If you're a baseball player, you either make a lot of money by most people's standards, albeit for a possibly short career, or you basically don't make much at all, even if you can play in the minors. Law isn't quite so stark. You don't have to be at a white shoe firm to do OK (corporate counsel, prosperous practice in a smaller city) but a lot of lawyers certainly make pretty mode…

It's still a pyramid. There are a few people at the top. There is the next layer of the people who make a decent living, aka the "middle class" actors, the folks making MLB minimum wage ($600K/yr), etc. and then all the people in the bottom layer trying to break in (the starving actors, the minor league players, etc).

And lawyers are very bimodal. You have a ton of lawyers who make less than $200K/yr, and not a lot in between.

Re: How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

#59

Post by ghaff »

jedberg wrote: post #58
ghaff wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not really pyramids though. If you're a baseball player, you either make a lot of money by most people's standards, albeit for a possibly short career, or you basically don't make much at all, even if you can play in the minors. Law isn't quite so stark. You don't have to be at a white shoe firm to do OK (corporate counsel, prosperous practice in a smaller city) but a lot of lawyers certainly make pretty mode…

It's still a pyramid. There are a few people at the top. There is the next layer of the people who make a decent living, aka the "middle class" actors, the folks making MLB minimum wage ($600K/yr), etc. and then all the people in the bottom layer trying to break in (the starving actors, the minor league players, etc). And lawyers are very bimodal. You have a ton of lawyers who make less than $200K/yr, and not a lot i…

Maybe. I don't dispute that law is bimodal but I also am pretty sure there are a fair number of corporate counsels and partners at smaller practices earning comfortable low six figure salaries out there.

Re: How does one get hired by a top cybercrime gang?

#60

Post by elefanten »

dataviz1000 wrote: post #21
bryanrasmussen wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah but considering the risks it's actually very, very bad.

The hospital costs for uninsured low level drug dealers who have a lead allergy must be astronomical.

Sure, but society picks up the tab
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