Spam, virus writing may come under mafia control |
 |
By Sandra Kay Miller, Guest Contributor
17 Dec 2003 | Security Wire Perspectives |
|
|
Will the recent introduction of antispam legislation result in the
creation of a "spam underworld"? Eugene Kaspersky, cofounder of
Kaspersky Lab and head of its antivirus research thinks so. While
people in the United States generally associate the word "mafia" with
Godfather and Soprano style gangsters, Kaspersky used the words
"organized crime" with no reference to any specific gangs, but as a
general term. However, the Russian researcher fears that modern
Internet criminals may fall under control of traditional organized
crime or worse yet, become organized into a new style of mafia --
virus writers and hackers who work for spammers to provide illegal
proxy-servers.
But Stephen Cobb, Senior VP of Research & Education at ePolicy,
argues that "by definition, people who work together to send spam
that violates provisions of either the recently passed federal CAN
SPAM Act or the many state antispam laws, or the Federal Trade
Commission Act (which outlaws deceptive business practices in
general) constitutes organized crime."
However, whether or not the people that the general public views as
the "mafia" are adding spam and other unpleasant Internet activities
to their portfolio of crime isn't clear at this point. But Cobb
thinks it would make perfect sense for them because spamming remains,
despite antispam laws and lawsuits, a relative low risk activity with
plenty of upside in terms of profit.
Kaspersky's predictions aren't a short-term forecast that can be
confirmed with facts and figures, but a long-term prediction, which
may happen in 5-10 years. He believes it too difficult and too
inaccurate at this point to speculate about who's going to control
cybercriminals.
|
|
|
|
