Cybersecurity Today Cybercrime and the Future: An In-Depth Discussion with Tammy Harper, Flare.io
Nov 15, 2025
Tammy Harper, a Senior Threat Intelligence Researcher at Flare, dives deep into the dark web and cybercrime ecosystems. She discusses how state-backed sanctuaries are becoming cybercrime havens. The conversation explores 'extortion as a service' and the role of affiliates in ransomware attacks. Artificial intelligence's impact on social engineering and attacks takes the spotlight, alongside the looming threat of quantum computing on encryption. Harper also highlights how digital sovereignty could reshape the future of cybercrime, making it a must-listen for cybersecurity enthusiasts.
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Multi‑Pillar View Of Cybercrime's Near Future
- The future of cybercrime will be shaped by pillars like extortion, ransomware, AI, and quantum over the next 1–5 years.
- Tammy Harper predicts many current trends have already started and will accelerate.
Underground Economies Mirror Historical Favor Networks
- Underground economies historically emerge to bypass broken mainstream systems and persist as barter and favor networks.
- Harper links Soviet-era 'blat' networks to modern cybercrime social structures.
Decentralization Of Underground Forums
- Cybercriminal forums are decentralizing away from Russian‑centric boards toward Matrix, Signal, and other harder‑to‑take‑down platforms.
- Ease-of-use will limit adoption initially, but shifts are already visible after forum disruptions.
