Cybercriminals are increasingly turning to subscription models to carry out their attacks, according to TrendAI

Trends the business unit of Trend Micro, has warned of the trend of modelo ‘crime as a service’ (crime as a service), whereby cybercriminals subscribe to a series of services to carry out their attacks.

The cybersecurity company has warned about the increase in subscriptions to this type of services on the ‘dark web’, which has replaced the usual buying and selling model of ‘malware’ in forums and has established a more organized system.

The criminal catalog includes ‘ransomware’ with integrated trading systems, ‘malware’ customizable on demand, phishing campaigns “turnkey”, ‘infostealers’ with real-time monitoring ‘dashboards’ and even hosting infrastructures resistant to police action, Trend AI has advanced in a statement.

“This is a fully industrialized criminal ecosystem where recurring payments guarantee stable income to developers and operators, encouraging the constant improvement of tools and the expansion of the offer,” TrendAI indicated.

However, this change in trend is not relevant from the point of view of companies that suffer cyberattacks. “The only thing they perceive is the operational, economic and reputational impact of the attack. The ‘crime as a service’ no the damage changes, but it does multiply the number of actors capable of causing it,” said senior threat researcher David Sancho.

The company has clarified that this transition in the business model has occurred progressively in the last decade, but the subscription has energized the ecosystemsince it has allowed the professionalization of cyber attacks with more sophisticated tools.

As a consequence, the National Cybersecurity Institute (Incibe) detected more than 122,000 incidents in 2025, 26 percent more than the previous year. However, Trend AI has regretted that, despite the increase in cyberattacks, there is no specific action different from what was applied ten years ago.

Faced with this, Sancho has indicated that companies must understand that ‘crime as a service’ is not a threat that can be deactivated, so the only solution is to “Assume this scenario as structural and reinforce its prevention, detection and response capabilities”.

Sponsored content