Cyber Crime

10 Pages 2615 Words

property and committing fraud to unleashing viruses and committing acts of cyber terrorism in which political groups or unfriendly governments nab crucial information. Indeed, the tactic used to create mayhem in the past few days is actually one of the more innocuous ones. Cyber thieves have at their fingertips a dozen dangerous tools, from ''scans'' that ferret out weaknesses in Web site software programs to ''sniffers'' that snatch passwords. All told, the FBI estimates computer losses at up to $10 billion a year.

As grim as the security picture may appear today, it could actually get worse as broadband connections catch on. Then the Web will go from being the occasional dial-up service to being ''always on,'' much as the phone is. That concept may be nirvana to e-tailers, but could pose a real danger to consumers if cyber crooks can come and go into their computer systems at will. Says Bruce Schneier, chief technical officer at Counterpane Internet Security Inc. in ...