AplusWebMaster
Topic Starter
FYI…
- http://www.informationweek.com/shared/prin…cleID=186100209
MOSCOW, April 19 (Reuters)
"The world should unite against online criminals because they could cause as much harm as deadly weapons, Russia's interior minister said on Wednesday. Russian hackers are notorious, and the country is often identified as a centre for extortion from Internet bookmakers, banks and other businesses. Several damaging viruses are believed to have originated in Russia. Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said the frequency of such attacks was increasing, with potentially catastrophic consequences. "A whole arsenal of destructive technologies is being used by criminals against the information infrastructure," Nurgaliyev told a conference in Moscow. "In certain conditions, the consequences of their use for humanity could even prove to be comparable with the use of weapons of mass destruction". Russian hackers have frequently been named in lawsuits brought for mass "spamming" of email addresses, and the country's highly educated workforce and inefficient police make it a magnet for Internet crime. An online group busted two years ago in a joint British-Russian operation had extorted $70 million from British gambling firms in a hi-tech protection racket in 2004. Russian police have said such groups are almost impossible to find because they do not fit the patterns of traditional criminal groups and spread across borders. "The creation of a solid barrier to prevent the spread of these practices, with a clear cross-border character, is impossible without the union of all affected countries," said Nurgaliyev."
- http://www.informationweek.com/shared/prin…cleID=186100209
MOSCOW, April 19 (Reuters)
"The world should unite against online criminals because they could cause as much harm as deadly weapons, Russia's interior minister said on Wednesday. Russian hackers are notorious, and the country is often identified as a centre for extortion from Internet bookmakers, banks and other businesses. Several damaging viruses are believed to have originated in Russia. Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said the frequency of such attacks was increasing, with potentially catastrophic consequences. "A whole arsenal of destructive technologies is being used by criminals against the information infrastructure," Nurgaliyev told a conference in Moscow. "In certain conditions, the consequences of their use for humanity could even prove to be comparable with the use of weapons of mass destruction". Russian hackers have frequently been named in lawsuits brought for mass "spamming" of email addresses, and the country's highly educated workforce and inefficient police make it a magnet for Internet crime. An online group busted two years ago in a joint British-Russian operation had extorted $70 million from British gambling firms in a hi-tech protection racket in 2004. Russian police have said such groups are almost impossible to find because they do not fit the patterns of traditional criminal groups and spread across borders. "The creation of a solid barrier to prevent the spread of these practices, with a clear cross-border character, is impossible without the union of all affected countries," said Nurgaliyev."