 - Cyberextortion is a form of online criminal activity in which the Web site, e-mail server, or computer infrastructure of an enterprise is subjected repeatedly to denial of service or other attacks by crackers (malicious hackers), who then demand money in return for promising to stop the attacks. Such crackers are called cyberextortionists. As the number of enterprises that rely on the Internet for their business has increased, opportunities for cyberextortionists have exploded.
Cyberextortion can be lucrative, netting skilled groups of crackers millions of dollars annually. The probability of location, arrest, and prosecution is low, because cyberextortionists often operate from countries other than those of their victims and use anonymous accounts and fake e-mail addresses. A typical attack may result in a demand for thousands of U.S. dollars. Payment in a single instance does not guarantee that further attacks will not occur, either by the same group of cyberextortionists or by another group.
Through concerted, hi-tech efforts, a few cyberextortionists have been found, arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and given prison sentences. However, according to some reports, most cyberextortion episodes go unreported and the majority of reported episodes never result in any arrests.
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| LAST UPDATED: |
20 Dec 2005
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