Kaspersky conducted a study of job ads and resumes on 155 dark web forums between January 2020 through June 2022, offering insight into the ever-growing cybercrime labor market. The aim of the study was to gather information on the kinds of jobs offered, their terms, selection criteria, and compensation data. Interestingly, the researchers found that the 638 dark web job vacancies far exceeded the 229 resumés that job searchers posted. While most of the examined ads contained listings for illicit or “semi-legal” jobs, some had potential legal work, such as creating educational IT courses. However, for the most part, these job ads did not include legally executed contracts, making it a very risky proposition for job hunters.
Pandemic Caused Spike in Dark Web Job Ads
Kaspersky’s researchers reviewed 200,000 dark web job ads during the stipulated time period, noting that 41% of the total ads were posted in 2020. The researchers ascribe this to the pandemic and its impact on CIS (Computer Information Science) jobs. “Some jobseekers lost all hope to find steady, legitimate employment and began to search on dark web forums, spawning a surge of resumes there,” Kaspersky said in a Monday blog post. “As a result, we observed the highest ad numbers, both from prospective employers and jobseekers, or 6% of the total, in March 2020,” it added. The most desired professionals in vacancy postings were developers at 61%, attack specialists at 16%, and designers at 10%. In many cases, employers would use screen applicants in similar ways as legitimate businesses. Among ads that included a clear selection criteria, 82% required applicants to take test assignments. Some ads even required candidates to submit their CVs/portfolios, and give interviews.
Median Salary for Reverse Engineer $4,000
The researchers reviewed 160 ads which clearly provided a salary range. Most of these listings would not provide a clear figure, choosing to provide a range or lower limit instead. That being said, the median monthly salary for a reverse engineer was $4,000. The average for developers and attackers was $2,000 and $2,500, respectively. Some employers even offered performance-based bonuses on top of salaries. “Besides the usual hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly rates, there are other forms of compensation that serve as the base pay or complement it,” the researchers said. “You could come across job ads that offered wages to be paid for completing a job: hacking a website or creating a phishing web page.
Dark Web Salaries Seldom Higher Than Legitimate Ones
The researchers warned that many might be drawn to dark web jobs expecting “easy money and large financial gain.” However, this is not true for the most part. Kaspersky said dark web salaries rarely exceed what IT professionals make in the real world. Furthermore, there is always the risk of finding yourself on the wrong side of the law. This could lead to prosecution and possible jail time. If you’re curious about IT salaries, check out how much professionals in the United States, and the United Kingdom make on average. Interested in learning more about the dark web? Head over to our article on dark web myths vs. facts.
