A McAfee report profiles the professionalization of data theft, including technologies to steal information, block a service or send spam. Plus: Where malware will strike next

It’s the year of skinny pants, hybrid cars, Facebook – and botnets.

In the world of cyber-crime, the theme of the year is botnets, said James Lewis, director and senior fellow of the technology and public policy program with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

ust a few weeks ago, botnets were responsible for the attacks against government sites in Estonia. Cyber-criminals are organizing these botnets into a weapon in order to steal information, block a service or send spam, said Lewis, who was speaking at a press conference for Monday’s release of the McAfee North America Criminology Report: Organized Crime and the Internet 2007.

Source: It Business

~LC

Technorati Tags: Botnets, Crime, Security