A lot of people may think that computer criminals consist of people that went to top-tier schools and graduated at the top of their class, but is that really the case?  After all, a lot of scams out there today are incredibly sophisticated which have fooled even the most savvy of computer users.  So who are these masterminds behind the keyboard?  Simply put, nowadays it can really be anyone.  With the proliferation of user friendly toolkits and DIY systems with sophisticated algorithms, anyone can now create perform scams and hacks that only the smartest computer users could do in the past.  Think of it this way, if you can push a click a couple of buttons, you can make a sophisticated online scam/hack/etc.

If the public’s image of the online criminal — the brilliant but maladjusted teen breaking into systems just to prove he can — were ever true, those days are long gone.

Not long after people first figured out how to break into computer systems, they started creating tools to make it easier for themselves; not long after that, those tools made their way into the hands of people who could use them without really understanding how they worked.

Today, few malware developers use their own code. They write it for the same reason commercial software developers do: to sell it for a healthy profit. If you’ve ever bought anything online, buying from them may be disconcertingly familiar. If you want to break into a computer or steal credit card numbers, you can buy the necessary software online, just like almost anything else. More than that, you can find user friendly, point-and-click attack applications that have been pre-tested and reviewed by experts, and read through customer feedback before making your purchase. [more]

Tags: Hackers, Malware