Cybercrime in China is on a new rise due to a slew of new and cheap toolkits available on the market. These tools have helped Chinese hackers execute more DDoS attacks and distribute more RATs than ever before.

Cheap Cybercrime Tools Mean More Successful Attacks

Many more hackers in China can now afford to buy software and tools for cybecriminal activities. A bunch of toolkits are selling cheap, giving most hackers the ability to get in on the game. With these new sets of tools, they can pull off more sophisticated cyberattacks against not only unaware consumers but also businesses and even governments.

The doubling in cybercriminal activity detected between 2012 and 2013 is largely due to these cheap sets of hacking software and equipment becoming available to Chinese hackers. A lot of cybercriminals look for remote access Trojans, compromised host services, and those that can help them with DDoS attacks. Since these types of services have become more available to many hackers, it has led to a huge rise in both attempts and successful attacks.

Based on the most recent survey by Trend Micro, toolkits for launching DDoS attacks were available to rent for just $81 a month. Hackers could get services for new DNS attacks for $323, and RAT access from $97 to $258 a year, depending on their sophistication. China shows the biggest boost in cybercrime related to these cheap tools, but they have also become widely available to hackers in Brazil and Russia.

Hacking has become a popular sideline for many people, signaling a grave economic problem in certain countries. It also signals a boom in the criminal marketplace that many others with the skills to put together attack packages can take advantage of. Analysts predict that cybercriminal activity will triple this year as compared to 2013.