The Era of SSI: How Decentralized Identity Will Destroy Carding and Give Birth to a New Generation of Cybercrime

[Professor]

Introduction: The End of the Honeypot Era
Two decades of the digital economy have been marked by constant data breaches. Every year, media reports on hacks of databases containing millions of bank card numbers, passwords, and personal data. Carding — a branch of cybercrime built on the trade in this static data — has become a symbol of the vulnerability of centralized systems. But a technology capable of changing the rules of the game once and for all is already emerging on the horizon: decentralized identification (DID) and self-sovereign identifiers (SSI). Many see them as the death of carding. However, security experts warn that instead of the disappearance of fraud, we are in for its mutation — the emergence of more sophisticated, dangerous, and personalized schemes.

Part 1: Why SSI is the death knell for classic carding​

Classic carding is based on three pillars of vulnerability:

1. Centralized databases ("honey pots") - be they online store servers, processing centers, or payment data aggregators.
2. Static details — card number, expiration date, CVV/CVC — do not change for months and serve as a universal key.
3. Passivity of the cardholder - in most transactions the cardholder is not actively involved (the exception is 3D Secure).

SSI attacks these fundamentals head-on:

• Decentralization. Your identity (including payment certificates) is stored not by the merchant or bank, but in your personal digital wallet — on your smartphone or hardware device. There is no central target for hacking.
• Selective Disclosure. You no longer transmit your card number. Instead, your wallet presents the merchant with a cryptographically signed, verifiable statement from the bank: "The holder of DID:abc123 has sufficient funds to pay $100" or "This transaction is signed with the private key of the accredited account holder." The card data never leaves your control.
• Dynamic participation. Every transaction requires active confirmation from your device using cryptographic keys. Stealing a card's "digital fingerprint" is pointless — access to the wallet itself is required.

Conclusion: The mass, automated collection and resale of "dumped" cards will become a thing of the past. The carding economic model, based on scale, will collapse.

Part 2: The New Threat Landscape: Where Poisonous Mushrooms Will Grow​

By destroying one fraud ecosystem, SSI will create the ground for a new, more complex one. Threats will shift from data to identity and trust processes.

1. Endpoint attacks: the war for your wallet.
The primary target will be the user's device.

• Targeted malware: Trojans specifically designed to steal private keys from SSI wallets or spoof transactions at the signing stage.
• Next-generation phishing: Instead of a link to a fake bank page, there's a QR code leading to a fake verification portal, or an offer to "update" your wallet to "increase security."
• Social engineering with a new twist: "Hello, this is your bank's security service. To unlock your ID, please confirm this transaction." By signing it, the user sends money to the scammers.

2. Compromising the trust infrastructure
. SSI doesn't operate in a vacuum. It relies on trust registries — lists of trusted issuers (banks, governments).

• Sybilline attacks: Fraudsters register fake "banks" or "government agencies" in trust registries (through bribery, false documents) and begin issuing legitimate-looking but false verifiable credentials.
• Binding Attacks: Using session hijacking or forged documents, an attacker convinces a legitimate bank to link their payment account to someone else's legitimate SSI identity. This can result in the victim becoming liable for someone else's transactions.

3. New types of criminal models

• Digital identity theft and extortion: Hijacking your entire SSI identity (access keys) would be considered digital theft. Fraudsters would block access to all services (bank, documents, medical records) and demand ransom. Losing a "card" is unpleasant, but losing your entire digital identity is catastrophic.
• Black market for verified credentials: Instead of card numbers, "verified EU citizen credentials with an A+ credit rating" or "surgeon credentials" linked to controlled DIDs will be sold on shadow forums.

4. Threats to privacy and total control

• Metadata Correlation: Although SSI combats tracking, every verified presentation leaves a digital trace. By analyzing timestamps, request types, and the DID relationship graph, it is possible to de-anonymize the user.
• Forced Disclosure: In the SSI world, a government or even a corporation could technically require not just proof of age ("over 18"), but the full date of birth from a digital passport, creating privacy risks.

Part 3: Arms Race: What's Changing for Defenders and Users​

• Shifting responsibility. Banks and merchants will partially transfer risks to users. You will become the primary custodian of your keys. This means a growing need for digital literacy.
• Security is becoming a process, not a state. The emphasis will shift to securing credential issuance processes, updating trust registries, and auditing interactions between DID entities.
• The role of biometrics and hardware wallets. The proliferation of secure elements (Secure Enclave, hardware wallets) and biometric authentication will no longer be an option, but a necessity for mass adoption.
• A new type of cyber insurance. Insurance products will emerge that cover losses from digital identity theft or unauthorized transactions initiated through complex social engineering schemes.

Conclusion: Not death, but metamorphosis​

DID and SSI aren't a magic bullet that will kill cybercrime. They're a technological watershed that eliminates entire classes of common attacks (including carding in its current form), but opens the door to more advanced and dangerous threats.

Bottom line:

1. Mass, "cheap" carding will die. This is a huge victory for society.
2. It will be replaced by targeted, technologically advanced fraud aimed at identity theft, compromising trust infrastructure, and exploiting human factors in complex scenarios.
3. Overall security may increase, but the price is increased personal responsibility and the need for constant digital hygiene.

The battle for security in the era of SSI will shift from the battlefield of data to a deeper and more fundamental level — the level of trust and digital sovereignty of individuals. And this battle needs to be prepared for today — both by users and by the creators of the new digital world.