It was once the case that computer viruses and other malicious software were written primarily by hobbyist hackers. Their motivations, for the most part, were simply bragging rights and the respect of their peers — desirable rewards, to be sure, but certainly not the sole focus of any career. The results of their efforts, meanwhile, could spread only as fast as a floppy disk could travel. How things have changed. Today’s malware creators, by contrast, are professional criminals around the globe whose efforts are proving lucrative beyond most people’s wildest dreams.
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Fighting the Good Global Cybercrime Fight: Q&A With Security Guru Mikko Hypponen, Part 1
Posted by: Katherine Noyes August 17, 2011 05:00 AMIt was once the case that computer viruses and other malicious software were written primarily by hobbyist hackers. Their motivations, for the most part, were simply bragging rights and the respect of their peers — desirable rewards, to be sure, but certainly not the sole focus of any career. The results of their efforts, meanwhile, could spread only as fast as a floppy disk could travel. How things have changed. Today’s malware creators, by contrast, are professional criminals around the globe whose efforts are proving lucrative beyond most people’s wildest dreams.