Cybercrime Call to Action

Earlier this week, the alleged mastermind behind Mariposa – one of the biggest viruses we’ve seen to date – was arrested in Slovenia. The investigation leading up to his capture is a perfect indicator of what we’re up against in our fight against cybercrime. It’s also another reason why we spend so much time educating our business customers and the broader community at large, on how not to become part of the problem.

Botnets, as most know, need “willing” participants – that is, unsuspecting users and their computers. We still have no idea how many credit cards and banking credentials were actually stolen, but with 12 million computers involved in the virus, it’s staggering to consider.

Fortunately, there are encouraging developments in this case, such as the cooperation of authorities from various countries to successfully bring this international case against several defendants. Also, despite reports that it is an even more sophisticated botnet than Aurora, experts were able to discover and dismantle it. We need more of this kind of cooperation and expertise on fighting cybercrime – but a truly successful effort requires even more.

One of our main goals has always been to give users the information they need to be “security smart.” We know that not everyone is engrossed with the nitty-gritty of the security world like we are, but we want to at least arm you with the basics. Today, too many users treat their computers much like some do their front door: they leave it unlocked and therefore vulnerable. We need to increase “street smarts” so that users are no longer easy victims.

In addition, we need the judicial process to work effectively so that such defendants face significant ramifications for this – on behalf of their many victims – and that there is payoff for the international cooperation and expertise that went into bringing this botnet to its knees. Hopefully, this investigation can serve as a model for how to effectively detect, find, arrest and bring cybercriminals to justice.

Tags: Cybercrime, Mariposa, Operation Aurora