Who was that masked cybercrime specialist?
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that some small inroads are being made by law enforcement in fighting cybercrime. For example, in recent weeks signs of progress have come to light, according to headlines such as:New York Man Who Participated in Online Piracy Ring is Sentenced
Chinese National Sentenced for Committing Economic Espionage to Benefit China Navy Research Center
Botmaster Robert Matthew Bentley AKA LSDigital Sentenced
Largo Man Sentenced in Certegy Data Theft
Woman Gets Two Years for Aiding Nigerian Internet Check Scam
Romanian Pleads Guilty Over Phishing Scam
DBA Gets Jail Time for Data Thefts
AOL Spammer Gets 30 Months in Prison
Chinese Man Jailed for Hacking Red Cross Quake Site
Hacker Sentenced for Stalking Internet Celebrity
Seattle Spam King Dark Mailer Faces 47-Month Sentence
As Churchill might ask: Though this may not be the end, or even the beginning of the end, does it signal the end of the beginning? Not by a long shot.
The underworld market is just too lucrative, the ease of execution too great, the number of willing victims too high.
I am not a criminologist, and I’m not so sure there have been exhaustive studies into the mind of a cybercriminal, but I think the main thing on any criminal’s mind is: “I do not want to get caught!” So why risk pulling a gun on someone, when you can get much more money with far less danger and do it from thousands of miles away?
In any case, though it’s been difficult to catch them, and it is not likely to get much easier, at least some of those apprehended will get time to think about repeating another pushbutton crime.
