Hackers in the Darknet: Search for applicants with a salary in the millions and paid vacation

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Millions in salary and paid vacation: How desperately hacker groups are looking for new applicants in the dark web

Talented hackers are in high demand (icon image)

© FangXiaNuo / Getty Images

Whether data theft, blackmail Trojans or sabotage: Cyber ​​attacks are making more money than ever before. But the search for suitable personnel is obviously anything but easy. And requires unexpectedly attractive conditions.

The business of attacks on the Internet is booming. Never before have there been as many cyber attacks as in recent years, and never before has the prey been so great. In just one attack last summer, hackers stole $100 million. The FBI blames North Korea’s Lazarus Group (read more here). But the wave of cybercriminal successes has an unexpected effect: there is a shortage of skilled workers in the hacker scene. This forces the competing groups to take desperate measures.

The talents can currently choose between highly attractive offers, as the experts from Kaspersky have found out. In the depths of the dark web, there is currently a real bidding competition for IT specialists with, well, moral flexibility. And to recruit the best people, you have to offer them a lot.

++ Also read: Make money at any price – the unglamorous everyday life of Kim’s elite hackers +++

Up to $100,000 a month

Since March 2020, more and more requests have been posted in the scene’s special forums, the antivirus experts report. You also see a connection with the pandemic: In the hacker scene, too, the more flexible working situation caused by Covid would have caused more movement in the market. The result: Specialists can increasingly choose their clients. And their situation has steadily improved: While requests for new jobs shot up at the beginning, they have been falling steadily in recent months. While busy jobs continue to be offered.

The offers are thus becoming increasingly attractive. Developers in particular can really cash in: The average salary offered for them is already 20,000 dollars (almost 21,700 euros) per month, as Kaspersky compiled. But that’s only half the story. Because many of the “employers” also offer numerous performance bonuses, bonuses and profit sharing, the salary can quickly increase further. One ad even offered up to $100,000, a good €108,500 per month. Interesting: The ad emphasizes that it is “legal” work.

In other places it looks a bit leaner, but quite attractive. With a base salary of just under $16,000, attack specialists are just behind the developers, and as an analyst you can still earn a good $5,000. Designers and system administrators are only offered $4,000 on average. Of course, the salary is not paid into the account. Instead, befitting crypto coins are transferred.

Hackers want vacations too

But even the highest salaries are apparently no longer enough to satisfy the demanding hackers. The ads, mostly written in Russian, offer an increasing number of other perks with which you want to convince future employees. Almost a third of the “companies” offer flexible working hours, and almost eight percent even offer paid sick days. Paid vacation, prospects for advancement and “exciting challenges” can also be found again and again. Just like you know it from the legal labor market. The proportion of home offices is surprisingly low: Only 45 percent of hackers are allowed to work from home. For the rest it means: attendance is compulsory.

But the hackers also expect a lot. Numerous groups demand trial hacks before hiring, even notorious teams like Conti work with employee appraisal interviews. And: A recommendation system for good hackers from the circle of friends is also offered.

Excitingly, the hacker forums don’t just have illegal career prospects. Some of the offers also came from reputable employers, such as an established Russian bank, Kaspersky reports. The logic behind this is quite understandable: After all, who can make a system more secure than those who could also crack it. The advantage: there is also a legally binding contract for the job. And even health insurance.

Also read:

North Korea: Kim Jong-un’s hackers use this clever trick to read your emails

North Korea’s hackers attacked him – so he took revenge on the entire country’s internet

How strictly Kim Jong-un monitors the smartphones of his population – and how they defend themselves

“Hidden Cobra”: FBI launches attack against North Korea’s hackers – and is breaking new ground

Bitcoin and iTunes vouchers: This is how North Korean hackers wash their loot of millions

Source: Kaspersky study

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