'Russian mafia is largest cyber crime syndicate'

7 Dec 2008, 0013 hrs IST, Aditi Utpat, TNN

 

PUNE: While cyber criminals world-over are driven by similar knowledge of technology, the key difference lies in the "motivation behind the crime", says Chris Goggans, a celebrated American hacker and computer security expert.

 

Pointing out that internet security issues are as a rising concern all over the world, Goggans said that the Russian mafia account for the "most organized" cyber crimes. "The most serious cyber crimes are from Russia and China. While most of the cyber crimes from Russia are financial in nature (stealing credit card number, bank account details), crimes emanating from China are related to theft of intellectual property, government information and military data," Goggans said.

 

"The cyber criminals in South America, Brazil, Korea, Europe are not involved in very sinister crimes. They are mainly into hacking for proving themselves," he added.

 

Goggans has the unique distinction of having broken into the system of America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) within six hours to uncover potential security threats for the US government. "Often, making leeways in the norms set by the parent company for small comforts creates major hurdles in the security system," Goggans said.

 

Claiming that he hasn't "seen much cyber crimes" from India, Goggans said that it may be because of the low proportion of cyber crimes, or simply that it may have skipped his eye.

 

Explaining the nature of cyber crimes in the US, he said that it is motivated mostly by revenge and malicious intent. "Holding network administrators hostage by stealing passwords, crashing database by a sacked worker, sending hate email... those are the crime Americans indulge in. While it is certainly annoying to clean up after such a crime, it is not threatening," he said.

 

Goggans put forth a simple two-point agenda to ensure cyber security of the average person connecting to the world wide web. "Keep your software and computer updated every day. As soon as Microsoft, Apple or whatever system you use issues an update, install it. And do not open suspicious or random emails. If you receive an email from someone you know but it doesn't seem to be normal,' check with the alleged sender of the email before opening it. These small things will keep you safe and increase your cyber-security multifold," he said.