Privacy Digest

Who's behind criminal bot networks? - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com: "They have infected perhaps 100 million computers with viruses, turning the PCs around the world into an army of willing criminal assistants known as 'bots.' They are using those PCs to send out billions of spam e-mails and make millions of dollars by attacking Web sites and extorting their owners. They have even attacked the core computers that keep the Internet running smoothly. Who are they?

The answer to that question is elusive, but there are a few clues.

In part one of this series, we described the epidemic of hijacked computers that's swept the Internet. Controlled by malicious programs, the computers are turned into robots, or bots, that are directed by criminals known as bot herders.

Part two looked at how profitable the bot business has become, leading hackers to engage in gang warfare in cyberspace for control of these hijacked computers -- a digital battle that has spilled out onto the Internet's Main Street.

Today, we examine who is behind these networks of infected computers.

For years, computer hackers typically were precocious, anti-social teen-agers who committed digital violence just to get attention. But computer crime has grown up, and grown into a big business. Now it is used by highly organized gangs to steal millions of dollars.

The top gangs, most agree, are in Russia, Eastern Europe and Brazil, although there also are a few up-and-coming cybercrime syndicates in Asia.

Cybercriminals tend to be talented computer programmers who can make much more money stealing than working, the experts agree. There is so much money to be made in cybercrime that some observers speculate that terrorists are using it to raise money and support their organizations.

"

(Read Original Article - Via The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com.)