BotNet News

Cybercrime is a growing threat to Americans, and as we become more and more reliant on modern technology, our vulnerability to cyberattacks rises. Whether you are worried about the security of your private data, a fraud attempt on your bank account or phishing scams from Nigerian princes, a cybercriminal attack can have devastating consequences.

Cyberattacks are highly organized, and criminals often work in teams of specialists. This structure mirrors a business, with a leader who oversees the overall goals of a particular crime, and then assigning tasks to different team members that play to their individual strengths. For example, a team of specialists might include one programmer who develops malware that can be sold on criminal virtual marketplaces (like eBay), another who finds buyers for the malware and sells it on the black market, and a third who helps the group successfully deploy the software at targeted companies to steal information or commit other cyberattacks like denial of service attacks.

Generally speaking, cybercrime takes many forms and focuses on anything from stealing personal financial data to illegally trafficking in child pornography or intellectual property and even extorting money from people or organizations online. The goal is to make the victim pay a ransom in exchange for the return of their data or the release of their organization or person. In some cases, cybercriminals also target high-net-worth individuals by using a variety of publicly and privately available data to steal assets from their financial accounts or impersonate them on social media.