Digital Shadows Report: Competitions on English-Language Cybercriminal Forums
In contrast to the competitions on Russian-language forums profiled previously by Digital Shadows, competitions on English-language forums are generally more innocent in nature. However, Digital Shadows has observed instances of increased prize values and competitions that require the use of real “hacking skills,” tactics similar to what a cybercriminal would use in the wild.
There are few cases of English-language forums with a tradition of hosting regular competitions, and it’s difficult to detect any clear, streamlined development of a distinct English-language forum competition model - with a few exceptions, says the Digital Shadows Photon Research Team. Soon after its creation in 2012, the BitsHacking forum started hosting regular competitions with its most recent competition announced in late 2018. This example provides the analysts with a certain amount of insight into the somewhat-fluid evolution of competitions - but because BitsHacking seems to be the exception rather than the rule, as an individual case, it is not enough to draw any substantiated conclusions, says the analysts.