Fergie's Tech Blog

Zombies and Botnets: OECD Warns of Hidden Armies in Cyber Wars

An AFP newswire article, via MSN News, reports that:

The simple act of using a computer for email or the Internet can mobilise armies of hidden agents and criminals out to subvert the system and business, the OECD says in a study [.pdf] on cyber crime.

The report, entitled "Malicious software (malware): a security threat to the Internet economy," gives an impression of two worlds engaged in an uneven war of virus invasion and belated defence.

Cyber crime, to steal data, spy and attack government and business computer systems "is a potentially serious threat to the Internet economy," the study, published on Friday, warns.

Organisations involved in "fighting malware offer essentially a fragmented local response to a global threat," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says.

"Over the last 20 years, malware has evolved from occasional 'exploits' to a global multi-million-dollar criminal industry ... Cyber criminals are becoming wealthier and therefore have more financial power to create larger engines of destruction."

In the last five years there has been a upsurge in such criminal activity to attack systems and steal information, money and identities.

posted by Fergie @ 6/01/2008 12:26:00 AM