Hacker’s List is a website unlike none other. On this site offers are made to connect customers and professional hackers for a price. The site was initially launched last November and to date, there are over 400 posts from people looking to hire a hacker. As far as hacker profiles, so far there are roughly 70 although many of the profiles are inactive.
Obviously, finding a hacker to hire should be a serious challenge since it is illegal but according to the site, they believe finding someone trustworthy to hire should be a painless and worry free experience. At one time, hacking was meant only for things like international espionage but it appears from the Hacker’s List website this has changed.
The recent cyber-attack against Sony Pictures was done with extreme sophistication but as far as hackers that can be hired online, this is intended for simpler things like checking to see if a spouse is cheating or gaining access to someone’s social media accounts. Instead of “hacking”, the work provided is referred to as a “project”, which consists of changing academic grades to breaking into smart phones.
With this site, a job is posted and various hackers will provide different ideas on how the task can be accomplished. Then, the person hiring selects a hacker according to availability and price. Once everything has been agreed to the first payment is made through Hacker’s List. The company claims that all payments are held in escrow until the project is 100% complete. the price for a professional hacker can be as low as $1 to $1,000 and more. One listing to eliminate images and content from search engines would have cost the buyer $4,000.
Today, data breaches are becoming more and more common and now that there is an actual listing service consisting of professionals with all skill levels, it certainly raises major concerns. Unfortunately, most people think security and privacy is forever but as experts advise, it helps to use LastPass and other password generators and managers along with a two-factor authentication whereby a password is required along with a unique code that was generated. With this, computer systems and emails are much safer and more difficult to hack.
The truth is that hiring hackers through sites like Hacker’s List is nothing new. The big question pertains to legalities for a service such as this. As law enforcement points out, it is never okay to break into someone’s personal email account.
According to reports, the founders of Hacker’s List are afraid to go public. They also followed legal advice from an attorney as to how the site could be structured to avoid liability for things that people using the site do. Not much is known about the founders at this time other than registration for the site is in New Zealand.