Computers and Technology

Low Risk - High Return - Work Your Own Hours
The Ultimate Get Rich Quick Scheme

Wow! Can you imagine a help wanted ad like that in your local newspaper or pay-per-click ad in your favorite search engine?

Yet, organized cyber crime has become the most profitable - low risk - high return crime of our age. Hundreds of thousands of hackers are quietly using the Internet, hiding behind thousands of captured computers, stealing identities and money from innocent people like you and me. Sadly, there is little chance the hacker will ever get caught.

Organized cyber crime has become a big-time profession. Professional hackers make it their daily job to take advantage of current computer security trends and send out threats like Spam, phishing e-mails, Trojan horses containing key loggers, hijackers and more, all targeted to steal your identity and ultimately your money.

These cyber criminals can work alone or in groups. Either way, their first goal is to capture computers and turn them into zombies or bots. These are computers that the hacker controls without the owners knowledge.

As more and more computers are captured, the hacker develops an Army of computers or botnet that can be used for any number of criminal activities. The botnet may send out Spam e-mails, and Trojan horses. A botnet can cause denial-of-service attacks on web sites extorting money from the web site owners. This whole time the hacker is hiding behind a string of computers under his control. Tracing back to the hacker is nearly impossible.

Hacker Tools For Sale

Anyone can take advantage of the computer security trends and become a part of the organized cyber crime world. The tools of the trade are everywhere. You can find web sites that promote the use of these tools. What do you want? Here's a partial list of items you can find on the Internet:

· Remote Access Tools - known as RATs. These tools allow remote access to a computer. They were originally developed for white hat hackers to remotely repair computers. Now, this is a major tool in a cyber criminal's toolbox.

· Key logger Tools - Corporations and even parents find these tools necessary to keep everyone in line on the Internet. Unfortunately, hackers have learned how to use these tools to steal your private information.

· Video And Audio Systems - Hackers have tools that will penetrate your computer systems and watch your every move through the camera mounted on your computer or microphone that came with your computer.

· Voip And Broadband Phone Services - you can easily find tools such as web dialer worms to break into computers and listen to conversations or even dial and use the phone service. How hard is it for a criminal to place drug purchases or conduct terrorist activities with your computer?

· Computer Memory Storage - hackers can acquire tools to section off your computer and store anything they want like child pornography, criminal records and more.

· Spamming Tools - want to send e-mail out of someone else's computer? Just purchase this easy to use software and you can make that happen. Hackers send millions of Spam e-mails every day making up over 90 percent of all e-mail sent out worldwide.

· Create Your Own Virus - Yes, it's true. There are many web sites offering to mutate a current virus to your needs. Lately, virus attacks have been more targeted. That's why you haven't heard about massive virus attacks lately.

· Drive By Spyware - There are some web sites that promote that they will pay you to allow them to place a tool on your web site that puts spyware on every computer that visits the site. The more computers infected the more money you make.

· Computer Scrambling Devices - you can purchase tools that will scramble all or some of the information on a computer. Simply invade a computer, scramble important information, leave a message telling the victim to pay a few hundred dollars ransom to an overseas account and they will send the code to unscramble the information.

This list could go on and on. Organized cyber crime uses every tool they can find or devise to take advantage of the current computer trends and enhance their threats.

The headline reads: Computer Hackers Wanted For Organized Cyber Crime! The sub headline should say, "The general public is indifferent and isn't doing much to protect themselves. The Timing couldn't be better."

Organized cyber crime has moved, for the most part, from targeting large businesses to individuals and small business. Criminals know that this targeted group has little knowledge of computer security and a small amount of money to invest in their protection. They view this group as easy prey. So far, they are right on target.

The sad truth is that most people either don't seem to care or don't know what to do. Most of those that don't know what to do don't do anything about it, either. That's the current computer security trend. As a result, organized cyber crime and computer security threats continue to grow at an accelerating pace. Over $67 billion was stolen last year. Over eight million identities have been stolen every year for years and years back.

What Can We Do To Fight Organized Cyber Crime And Turn These Computer Security Trends Around?

For the most part, criminals are lazy. They are looking for the low road - not the high road. Making yourself a hard target to attack is your first defense against organized cyber crime and computer security threats.

The old saying, "knowledge is power," is most important. Make sure everyone in your home or business understands the threats and is careful not to allow these on a computer. However, even with the best knowledge there can be accidental leaks from opening Spam e-mail, drive-by-hacking from a web site, downloading infected cds and more.

Here are some tips to protect your home and business:

· Make sure you keep up with the latest most up-to-date Microsoft Windows patches
· Use an industrial grade bi-directional firewall. Most over-the-counter and products offered by Internet services don't offer this quality technology
· Make sure you have up-to-date antivirus protection
· Make sure you have best-of-breed anitspyware protection. Antispyware and antiviruses are different computer security threats and require different protection technologies.
· Avoid web sites that may have spyware including gambling and pornography.

The best protection is using the same computer security solutions used by major corporations around the world. A solution that uses overlapping technologies to prevent antiviruses, spyware and other computer security threats.