Die ganzen Ransomware-Gangs da draussen verdienen ja richtig Geld. Darkside verlangte nette 4 Millionen Dollar vom Betreiber der Colonia Pipeline. Aber was kostet eigentlich so ein Cyber-Angriff in der Durchführung? Was sind die laufenden Kosten für Cyber-Operationen? Was kostet Personal? Wie teuer ist die Entwicklung von Schadsoftware? Über all diese Fragen wissen wir in der Forschung ziemlich wenig. Kriminelle und Cyberkommandos sind wenig gesprächig, wenn es um das Thema Kosten geht. Aus dem Staatshaushalt kann man das auch nicht rauslesen. Deswegen näheren wir uns in dieser Folge mal dem Thema an und machen Reverse Engineering: Wir definieren ein paar Grundannahmen und gucken darüber, welche Komponenten Cyber-Operationen so brauchen und welchen Einfluss bestimmte Aspekte wie Dauer, Teamgröße und Auswahl von Schadsoftware auf den Preis hat. Um das ganze etwas besser nachzuvollziehen hat ein Kollege von mir ein Tool gebaut, mit dem man die Kosten für verschiedene Angriffskampagnen modellieren kann. Viel Spaß damit!

Shownotes

Cyber Attack Cost Calculator: https://percepticon.de/material/open-data/cost-of-cyber-attack-calculator/

Ablon, Lillian, and Andy Bogart. 2017. Zero Days, Thousands of Nights: The Life and Times of Zero-Day Vulnerabilities and Their Exploits. Research report RR-1751-RC. Santa Monica, Calif: RAND. Accessed May 26, 2020. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1751.html

Ablon, Lillian, Martin C. Libicki, and Andrea A. Golay. 2014. “Markets for Cybercrime Tools and Stolen Data: Hackers' Bazaar.”

Barzashka, Ivanka. 2013. “Are Cyber-Weapons Effective?” The RUSI Journal 158 (2): 48–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2013.787735

Browning, Kellen. 2021. “Hundreds of Businesses, from Sweden to U.S., Affected by Cyberattack.” The New York Times, July 2, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/02/technology/cyberattack-businesses-ransom.html

Collier, Kevin. 2021. “Luxury Cars and $100 Bills: Police Bust Ransomware Gang in Ukraine.” Accessed June 17, 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/ransomware-gang-busted-authorities-ukraine-rcna1199

CompTIA. 2017. “Your Next Move: Cybersecurity Engineer.” Accessed June 17, 2021. https://www.comptia.org/blog/your-next-move-cybersecurity-engineer

Cybernews. 2021. “Million-Dollar Deposits and Friends in High Places: How We Applied for a Job with a Ransomware Gang.” Cybernews, April 21, 2021. https://cybernews.com/security/how-we-applied-to-work-with-ransomware-gang/

Deloitte. 2018. “Black-Market Ecosystem. Estimating the Cost of "Pwnership".” Accessed July 01, 2021. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/risk/us-risk-black-market-ecosystem.pdf

Jobilize. 2021. “Exploit Developer with Security Clearance Job in Columbia.” Accessed June 17, 2021. https://www.jobilize.com/job/exploit-developer-security-clearance-columbia-mount-indie-united-states;jsessionid=e_xYHPefDaUpLRbiI3PaD0IzWOp2-vLK3nILfB0J.web01?src=drblsrch

Lindsay, Jon R. 2013. “Stuxnet and the Limits of Cyber Warfare.” Security Studies 22 (3): 365–404. https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2013.816122

Malone, Patrick J. 2012. “Offense-Defense Balance in Cyberspace: A Proposed Model.” Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School. https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/27863

Payscale. 2021. “Security Operations Engineer Salary in the United States.” Accessed June 17, 2021. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Security_Operations_Engineer/Salary

Pomerleau, Mark. 2017. “Here’s How DoD Organizes Its Cyber Warriors.” Accessed June 17, 2021. https://www.fifthdomain.com/workforce/career/2017/07/25/heres-how-dod-organizes-its-cyber-warriors/

Smeets, Max. 2016. “How Much Does a Cyber Weapon Cost? Nobody Knows.” Council on Foreign Relations, November 21, 2016. https://www.cfr.org/blog/how-much-does-cyber-weapon-cost-nobody-knows

Whitney, Lance. 2020. “How Cybercrime Will Cost the World $1 Trillion This Year.” TechRepublic, December 7, 2020.