Cyber Alert : How the World Is Under Attack From a New Form of Crime

Through profiles of individual victims and companies, this exploration of cyber crime identifies the commonly used criminal methods, such as viruses, spam, and junk e-mail, and the legal rights of users against this increasingly international phenomenon. Old-fashioned criminals are waking up to the new opportunities and exponential payback of internet crime, adapting schemes like blackmail and money laundering to this vast new landscape. To better expose the activity of cyber felons who cost consumers in the United States about $50 billion a year, this guide also gives preventative advice to help the not-so-savvy computer users protect themselves from financial and identity theft on the Internet. CONTENTS......Page 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 7 A New World of Crime......Page 9 The Rise of the Cyber Criminal......Page 27 The Fight Against Cyber Crime......Page 53 The Rise of the Cyber Cop......Page 80 The Hackers......Page 112 The Virus Writers......Page 136 Identity Theft......Page 171 The Bot Herds......Page 195 Sex and Drugs......Page 232 The Future......Page 250 REFERENCES......Page 259 INDEX......Page 266 ABOUT THE AUTHORS......Page 271 Anyone with an email account receives numerous virus-ridden files and requests to give away their personal details, but this is just scraping the surface of what is known as 'cyber crime'. As 'traditional' organised crime is waking up to the huge potential of cyber space, Cyber Alert investigates both where they will strike next, who is trying to stop them and how we can protect ourselves.