PandaLabs recently conducted an undercover investigation into the seedy world of cyber criminal networks. Their findings are shocking and should give cause for everyone to beef up their online security and identity protection efforts.

PandaLabs stated, “This is a rapidly growing industry and cyber-criminals are aiding and abetting each other’s efforts to steal personal information for financial profit.”

PandaLabs discovered a massive underground network offering products in online forums and over 50 dedicated online storefronts. The more audacious cyber criminals would set up shop on Facebook and Twitter.

Here is a quick snapshot of the current offerings and prices their investigation yielded:

1. Credit card number or bank account information for $2.00. No additional information on the account details is available for this small fee.Access to account details with a minimum $82,000 balance would cost $700.00 +.
2. The rental of a botnet network of infected computers for sending out mass spam attacks begins at $15.00.
3. Cloned credit cards go for $180.00
4. The criminals were charging a 10-40 percent commission on money laundering services.
5. The delivery of products purchased illegally would range between $30.00 and $300.00

As you can see, the entry into the world of cyber crime comes at a very small price, while the potential payoffs can be huge. Are you doing enough to protect your identity and online accounts?

Read More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110120/ts_alt_afp/usitcomputersecuritycrimepandalabs