Hackers, attackers, and steal users' data not only try to attack the network. The tricks based on the user's habits and psychology are often exploited by hackers, to find the easiest way to get information.
Case of Bo Chou, a Chinese hacker is an example. According to CNBC, Bo Chou took advantage of the tourists' psychic "free stuff" to steal precious data from thousands of customers. The first part of this story is taken from the book "Kingdom of Lies: Unnerving Adventures in the World of Cybercrime".
Simple tricks
Bo Chou is a Chinese veteran. In 2012, he began to know Russian hackers like Valery Romanov. Romanov regularly uploads his social network with images of money to earn money from stealing credit card numbers. Those images made Bo Chou jealous.
In 2014, Bo Chou was admitted to reception at a hotel in Shanghai. This is a big hotel, often welcoming guests to work. Bo Chou decided to exploit the business guests in Shanghai.
USB drives are a tool for Bo Chou to steal hotel guests' data. Photo: Tech Radar.
He ordered thousands of USB drives for about $ 100 more. Bo also ordered modern-looking metal plates. The final step is downloading malware, software with the function to retrieve data from the computer as quickly as possible and transfer to an address via the network to USB.
Before arriving at the hotel, Bo often learns about the ongoing event at the hotel and sponsors of the event, then prints a sheet of paper with the same color of the sponsor's logo. He went to the hotel, put the USB into the silver plate and placed it in the lobby or tea table of the event, with the notice saying "Free USB drive, welcome". Sometimes Bo sneaked into the press room to put his USB drives.
Bo Chou is just one of many Chinese hackers who make a profit by stealing data. Photo: Getty.
Bo deceived many people in the beginning. Attendees often get caught off guard, take a USB drive and plug in the device to save data. Immediately after plugging in the device, the malware in the drive will spread in the computer and get all the excel sheets possible. Bo is only interested in these lists.
More and more, more and more people realize that "free" items may carry security risks. Simple malware in USB is often detected as soon as guests bring the device to their headquarters.
However, it was late, Bo had what he needed. These are the contact information of customers, partners, business or financial plans of businesses.
Obtained from stealing information
After obtaining these valuable data, Bo created an account on the website to find freelance jobs in the US and sold data to companies. His customers understand how valuable data is, and often don't care how Bo has that data.
Data is sold with many different packages, of which the cheapest is the "basic" package that costs $ 5 . Higher-end packages, carefully scrubbed, are more expensive. Bo owns data from numerous companies and industries with exhibitions in Shanghai, from construction, finance, risk management to sensitive sectors like money laundering.
Sensitive information in customer machines is sold at high prices. Photo: Tiller.
To protect identity, Bo uses virtual private network (VPN) to use the network address in Japan. If you look at Bo's address online, people will only find a building in Tokyo. He did not want to risk, because bragging people like Valery often ended up being summarized by the FBI.
Because of the "good" data and good quality, Bo's business is very prosperous. Customers even introduced to friends and partners, making Bo's work progress. Bo also provides services such as PowerPoint presentation data to reach less tech-savvy customers.
This job made him earn money quickly, so lucrative that he felt unable to give up. But Bo Chou always lived in a state of anxiety, fearing that one day he would disappear like Valery Romanov.