Slashdot Mirror
Cybercrime Now Worth $105 Billion, Bypasses Drug Trade
Stony Stevenson writes "Citing recent highly publicized corporate data breaches that have beset major companies like Ameritrade, Citigroup, and Bank of America, McAfee CEO David DeWalt, said that cyber-crime has become a US$105 billion business that now surpasses the value of the illegal drug trade worldwide. Despite the increase in government compliance requirements and the proliferation of security tools, companies continue to underestimate the threat from phishing, data loss, and other cyber vulnerabilities, DeWalt said. 'Worldwide data losses now represent US$40 billion in losses to affected companies and individuals each year, DeWalt says. But law enforcement's ability to find, prosecute, and punish criminals in cyberspace has not kept up: "If you rob a 7-11 you'll get a much harsher punishment than if you stole millions online," DeWal remarked. "The cross-border sophistication in tracking and arresting cyber-criminals is just not there."'"
Considering the international nature of the Internet and the ability to hack from just about anywhere, including extradition-free countries, it seems like anyone could become a cybercriminal and make billions of dollars.
Does O'Reilly or Manning have a book on how to become a cybercriminal? Besides the Camel, I mean.
We're winning the drug war! That's the only way to explain such low numbers!
Maybe we'd better start a war on cyber crime too, seeing how the drug war has been so successful!