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Security Talent Shortage Hits Cybercrime Groups, Too (csoonline.com) 40

itwbennett writes: A report released today by Digital Shadows finds that cybercrime organizations "face many of the same hiring problems as defending security organizations, but with their own particular twists," writes Maria Korolov. In particular, the groups are finding a shortage of qualified candidates for jobs such as malware writers, exploit developers, bot net operators, and mules. But, unlike legitimate organizations, "cybercriminals are limited in their ability to properly vet new hires, to widely advertise for needed talent, and to find people who are both trustworthy and are willing to break the law," writes Korolov. One thing the criminals have in common with defending organizations: entry-level skills are the easiest to find. This is one reason why many attackers use simple tools and attack methods.
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Security Talent Shortage Hits Cybercrime Groups, Too

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  • by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) on Wednesday March 02, 2016 @08:20AM (#51621277)

    Maybe they can take the H1b's!

  • Are we on the edge of something big?

    • by Euphorinaut ( 3580037 ) on Wednesday March 02, 2016 @08:30AM (#51621313)
      The demand is just growing faster than the supply. More things in the world are connected and therefor vulnerable, while most organizations won't start pretending to take security seriously until something bad happens.
      • by Bert64 ( 520050 )

        Very true, and has been the case for a long time...
        Criminals however have a lot less constraints on their hiring, for instance many people with a criminal record will be immediately rejected by most companies as will people without the right immigration status or without the right certifications. Companies may also choose an otherwise less suitable candidate in order to fulfil diversity quotas etc. It's also more difficult for companies to get rid of dead wood.

        The current criminal record process means that

      • Demand? I guess I am not looking ib the right place because I can only find job postings I ever see are for basic moving computers and plugging them on jobs. No company I have spoken with seems to care that much about a computer forensics certification and a bachelors in computer security and information assurance...

    • by khasim ( 1285 )

      I doubt it. More like fewer and fewer people are available with the specialized knowledge at each level.

      Entry? Lots of people.
      1 step above entry? Fewer people.
      2 steps ... even fewer.
      etc.

      Also, from TFA:

      Some groups also offer incentives for new talent, such as promising fame and notoriety, profit-sharing, and travel expenses.

      Travel is hazardous. And fame/notoriety means that LEO's are looking for you.

      Which reduces the pool of available talent at each level (which is already a small pool at the upper levels).

  • by rmdingler ( 1955220 ) on Wednesday March 02, 2016 @08:28AM (#51621303) Journal

    ...find people who are both trustworthy and are willing to break the law.

    It is also difficult to train a hunting dog to bring you ducks but leave the chickens alone.

    You can do it; just remember that dogs are much easier to train and far more loyal than their human counterparts.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Difficult but not impossible. A small number of people have a highly-developed sense of right and wrong. Equipped with critical thinking, it is not unusual for such a person to largely reject the current legal/political system.

      It is not that being trustworthy and being disobedient are incompatible. It's that of the many people with genuine integrity, few have undertaken the philosophical exploration necessary to truly question the state itself.

  • From what I can see. Oh well, whatever gets then more H1-bs, right? Sad thing is we've got exactly two presidential candidates (Trump and Sanders) opposed to this junk and neither is electable.
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      Sanders is getting his money to campaign from large corporations as Clinton, Cruz, Rubio and the others. They expect a return.
      • by tsqr ( 808554 )

        Sanders is getting his money to campaign from large corporations as Clinton, Cruz, Rubio and the others. They expect a return.

        Really? I don't see any corporations, large or small, listed here [opensecrets.org], but if you can cite a source to back up your claim I'd be interested in seeing it.

        • Like alphabet Inc, one of his largest contributor?
          Or American Crystal Sugar, another big contributor. It is a CO-OP so definitions include them as corporations, others don't.
          • by tsqr ( 808554 )

            OK, Alphabet has contributed about $163,000 to Sanders over his entire political career. That makes them the largest single contributor, making up approximately 0.4% of his contributions for the current election cycle. That's not quite up to the standard of "Sanders is getting his money to campaign from large corporations". It would be more accurate to say "Sanders is one 250th of his money to campaign from large corporations".

      • by RollTRS ( 894613 )

        Sanders is getting his money to campaign from large corporations as Clinton, Cruz, Rubio and the others. They expect a return.

        Campaign/Political finance reform is literally a main tenet of the man's platform. His well documented unwillingness to take donations from banks or corporations is precisely one of the things that has made his campaign so successful. To the point where his campaign has broken multiple records relating to the numbers of small donors, and the amount of money raised.

    • Wrong. Trump is absolutely electable: he's sweeping all the GOP primaries right now. How can you possibly say he's not "electable"? That just defies reality.

      Sanders, OTOH, while a great candidate IMO, is just not winning the primaries it appears, so no, it doesn't look like there's a good chance he'll be on the ballot in November.

      My prediction is that Trump will win the election. He's winning the GOP primaries now, and will probably get the nomination. Then he'll be up against Hillary, and given how muc

      • by Anonymous Coward

        What? Every single early pole I saw said Hilary 56%, trump 42%, with a 2% none.

        The question was "who would you vote for"

        Now I know poles mean shit early, but what you are seeing is not lining up with what I am seeing.

      • by Anonymous Coward

        Trump is Barry Goldwater 2: Electric Boogaloo turned up to 11. He is everything the super-hard-right-wing nuts want, and will absolutely fail to get a single moderate vote in November. The only thing Hillary has to do to win, is not go to jail, and not piss off moderates.

        I'm continuing to vote Libertarian.

      • by invid ( 163714 )
        Whether someone's voting for Hillary or voting against Trump, the votes go to Hillary. This election is going to be about who people dislike more, and I'm guessing Trump is more disliked than Hillary. Many people don't want to be associated with the white racists supporting Trump.
        • That's your own opinion. The polls show otherwise. Hillary is obviously and horribly corrupt, has committed criminal actions, and is a war hawk. I'd rather have a supposedly "racist" bigmouth in the White House than another mideast war.

          • by invid ( 163714 )

            That's your own opinion. The polls show otherwise. Hillary is obviously and horribly corrupt, has committed criminal actions, and is a war hawk. I'd rather have a supposedly "racist" bigmouth in the White House than another mideast war.

            Hasn't Trump promised to take out Isis? I think he said he was going to wipe them off the face of the earth. How is he going to do that without another mideast war?

  • by Applehu Akbar ( 2968043 ) on Wednesday March 02, 2016 @08:31AM (#51621323)

    Cybercrime has gone through a rough patch recently because of the fragmentation of its OS base. So many users still on XP, and the higher-end users cycling rapidly through Windows 7, then 8 and 8.1, and now 10. As soon as the majority of users can be migrated to 10 as Microsoft intends, cybercrime will be off and running again.

    • Cybercrime has gone through a rough patch recently because of the fragmentation of its OS base. So many users still on XP, and the higher-end users cycling rapidly through Windows 7, then 8 and 8.1, and now 10. As soon as the majority of users can be migrated to 10 as Microsoft intends, cybercrime will be off and running again.

      In other words, Microsoft is shoving Win10 down our throats for the purpose of alienating their user base, thereby limiting the supply of talent for cybercrime organizations.

      Go Microsoft! Keep alienating your users!

  • by Marginal Coward ( 3557951 ) on Wednesday March 02, 2016 @09:26AM (#51621575)

    ...the groups are finding a shortage of qualified candidates for jobs such as malware writers, exploit developers, bot net operators, and mules.

    Waitaminute! - I thought Dice recently sold off Slashdot to somebody else...

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Maybe the criminals could hand out fliers in th Disney parking lot? I hear there are lots of talented people there being forced out of their jobs and desperately seeking work.

  • by umghhh ( 965931 ) on Wednesday March 02, 2016 @02:57PM (#51623957)
    There have been many different things proposed of which many are valid but what about this that I experienced first hand few times in different areas: you outsource as much as you can leaving only the system architects and some other key jobs in house. Theya re competent and well paid. After a while these key staff loses its fresh experience with the stuff they make but more importantly the normal way of raising among the ranks to become a key staff member is not possible anymore - we hire only experts and gurus that also know our systems well enough - guess what - the paths leading there are not possible anymore as bottom of the pyramid is 'in the cloud'. Other interesting side effect is: the bottom of the pyramid people are not going for the best of technical choices as there is no point - the architects of our own company are only one of the many customers. Looks like win win to me...
  • by recharged95 ( 782975 ) on Wednesday March 02, 2016 @04:09PM (#51624541) Journal

    Really, that industry is motivated by incentives.

    The market obviously has spoken the current incentives aren't worth it. It's a buyers market right now if you think about it. Bring on the [real] incentives (e.g. money, power, etc... choose one...), and then you'll see a different story.

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