The World's Top Cybercriminals

bart_scriv writes "BusinessWeek profiles four individuals identified by law enforcement as the world's foremost online criminals. They're accused of crimes ranging from re-shipping rings to credit card theft and email fraud -- '...all are Russian. Strong technical universities, comparatively low incomes, and an unstable legal system make the former Soviet Union an ideal breeding ground for cyberscams. Also, tense political relations sometimes complicate efforts to obtain cooperation with local law enforcement.'"

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The World's Not So Top Cybercriminals?

[0olong]

By definition, the world's top cybercriminals will never be identified.

Scam & fraud website

[Rob T Firefly]

From TFA: Postal Inspection Service officials are also investigating Smash's activity as a senior member of the International Association for the Advancement of Criminal Activity, which they describe as a loose-knit network of hackers, identity thieves, and financial fraudsters. Smash and another sought-after hacker named Zo0mer jointly operate IAACA's Web site, www.theftservices.com, one of the most popular and virulent data trading sites, according to U.S. officials.

I wonder what would happen if I posted a link to www.theftservices.com on Slashdot. I mean, what happens to links like www.theftservices.com when they get posted to Slashdot? What effect would it have on www.theftservices.com?

Re:hacker icons a Good Thing

[nasor]

This is an example of what economists refer to as the "broken window fallacy."

The fallacy goes something like this: "On the whole, it's a good thing for people to go around randomly breaking windows. It creates jobs for the window installers and people who work in glass factories, and even helps to create new markets for shatter-proof windows!"

Although at first glance this appears to help the economy, it's an illusion; all the money that goes toward replacing the broken window is wasted money that could have been spent on actually improving economic infrastructure, rather than simply maintaining it. Perhaps new and improved shatter-resistant windows will be developed, but if there was enough demand to justify their development then it would have happened anyway.

Similarly, every dollar that people have to spend on things like antivirus software is a dollar that they weren't able to spend on improving their products, or hiring more employees of their own, or offering people cheaper prices. All this only benefits you if you are carefully placed within the market to take advantage of it. So yes, computer crime is good for you if you happen to work for a security company, but on the whole it's bad for society and the economy.