Fergie's Tech Blog

Economic Bust, Cybercrime Boom

Andy Greenberg writes on Forbes.com:

The first ripples of a growing wave of cybercrime may be appearing.

In the physical world, the connection between declining business and crime is simple enough: As the above-ground economy suffers, the underground economy swells. The connection between economic trouble and cybercrime is trickier to prove. But as the economy slows, some crime watchers see signs that a portion of newly unemployed skilled tech workers are turning to the theft and exploitation of sensitive data even as the existing cybercriminal economy is finding new ways to exploit consumer confusion around the banking meltdown.

Meanwhile data on industry spending for security suggests that companies are preparing for the worst. Fear about the downturn's consequences for data protection has kept the cybersecurity industry practically recession-proof, even as other IT spending slumps.

posted by Fergie @ 11/18/2008 10:08:00 PM