Cybercrime

The book I read to research this post was Tangled Web by Richard Power which is an excellent book which I bought from a local secondhand bookshop. Cybercriminals often wouldn't dream of robbing someone in person but somehow a computer makes it less personal so they think it's acceptable. Often they assume all computer users are rich after all they can afford a computer & think they are like Robin Hood robbing the rich to feed the poor. It's more like robbing the rich to line their pockets. A lot of these crooks have little computer & use programs they buy on the internet via a search & we call these script kiddies. The more organised ones tend to work in groups, these tend to write all or some of their software. Foreign spy agencies tend to hire the more able hackers to find specific information. When the west bombed Kosovo they uploaded viruses onto the Serbian defence computer network so they didn't shoot down any aircraft. The best way to learn about cybercrime is to browse underground bulletin boards & this is often done by white hat crackers & people who secure networks. Cybercrooks are often called black hat crackers. These crooks are often difficult to stereotype but are often older than the teenage stereotype. In many cases they have good jobs & are in relationships. Often when someone is hacking they use little more than a laptop & a modem & many use the local cybercafe which makes it harder to trace the culprit. While many other types of crime are declining, cybercrime is definalely increasing & many people especially companies don't report it because of potential bad publicity also it's difficult to prosecute.