The career path of cybercriminal is a tricky one. Cybercrime is a hundred-billion-dollar growth industry attracting bright young people from all over the world.
But there aren’t any colleges that offer it as a major, and your local library is not likely going to be of much help. The risk and rewards are sky high, so you’ll want to learn how to not get caught.
Now you can simply sign up for a cybercriminal class online.
Enterprising Russian hackers have put together a training course for the novice cybercriminals among us. For a grand total of $70 (less if you want to buy only part of the course), would-be hackers are given a manual that can teach them important skills such as using bitcoins securely, using anonymizing networks effectively, and utilizing the Deep Web.
Here’s a list of what the entire course covers from Dancho Danchev:
- Basic host security
- Setting up Virtual Machines
- Setting up encrypted backups
- Setting up and securely using email clients
- Setting up a firewall
- Basics of OpenVPN and i2p
- Basics of Bitcoin use
- How to configure popular browsers for maximum security and anonymity
- How to use Socks4/Socks5 servers (malware infected hosts)
- How to anonymously use the most popular Web payment processes such as WebMoney, Yandex etc.
- How to securely communicate online using free/public/community tools
Advertising for the course features the Linux penguin, code from The Matrix, and women who do not come included with the class. Image via Security Affairs.
Bangkok-based security researcher The Grugq doesn’t much like what little he sees.
“It looks very bad,” he tweeted. “Rather than teach principles to be applied, it teaches the tools.”
@ivladdalvi teaching the tools is kinda like teaching the test. It seems to work, but only in narrowly defined parameters
— the grugq (@thegrugq) December 20, 2013
Maybe the most valuable asset of the program is access to a private forum for paying students only that will keep them up to date on tip top operational security (OPSEC) necessary to be a successful cybercriminal.
Like the playground outside of your old school, that’s where an awful lot of the learning is bound to take place.
H/T Dancho Danchev | Photo via Oliver Tacke/Flickr
