A McAfee report profiles the professionalization of data theft, including technologies to steal information, block a service or send spam.
TORONTO – It's the year of skinny pants, hybrid cars, Facebook – and botnets.
In the world of cyber-crime, the theme of the year is botnets, said James Lewis, director and senior fellow of the technology and public policy program with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Just a few weeks ago, botnets were responsible for the attacks against government sites in Estonia. Cyber-criminals are organizing these botnets into a weapon in order to steal information, block a service or send spam, said Lewis, who was speaking at a press conference for Monday's release of the McAfee North America Criminology Report: Organized Crime and the Internet 2007.
And users are unlikely to notice if they have a bot, since bots hide themselves and may even have a legitimate name. Bots can also be reconfigured for instant messaging, which is often allowed through corporate firewalls and across networks.
The report looks at the “professionalization” of theft, fraud and extortion over the Internet. The problem is that it's difficult for police to collect evidence from other countries, and skillful cyber-criminals are recruiting low-level criminals (often youth) or “cyber-mules” in the target country.
A 2006 survey found that almost two-thirds of Canadian businesses had lost income, customers and productivity due to cyber-crime. Many report cyber-crime costs them more than traditional theft or robbery. And one FBI estimate put the cost of cyber-crime to the U.S. economy at US$67 billion in 2005.
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*ITBusiness.ca
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