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While we all await the newest advantages and threats from Web 2.0, it seems cybercriminals continue to exploit their own connectivity, the IRC, or Internet relay chat, which is the preferred method of sharing the tricks and the tools of online crime.

I found a recent article by Brian Krebs, Mr. Security Fix, quite fascinating, where he used a tool, something called PieSpy, which is itself a bot, or automated, program, that maps out online IRC social networks. The IRC predates text-messaging, and are used for real-time online communication, and many serve as open marketplaces for all types of stolen consumer information. Also, virus and worm writers use IRC to update and control their infected networks.

Krebs applied PieSpy to map out several of the more heavily-trafficked IRC fraud networks (one known as ccpower, the cc standing for credit card), and once set, the PieSpy graphs all the interconnects, connecting the various user names who communicate together with lines, and the darker the line, the more frequently they communicate. After creating the chart, Krebs was able to trace a number of users to another website where the users posted information about themselves, like birth date, email address, etc.

Makes you wonder how cybercriminals would feel falling victim to cybercrime? But altogether, I found PieSpy a very interesting tool, one that could provide a quick hierarchy of the online criminal gangs and perhaps make cybercrime a little easier to fight.

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