Globally
cybercrime costs $114 billion every year according to a September, 2011 study by U.S. security software maker Symantec Corp.
Officials of Western
governments often point to Russia, Estonia, the Ukraine and other Eastern European countries as the source of their cybercrime problems. And it's certainly true there is a thriving
cybercrime economy in Eastern Europe – one that is more attractive because culprits are rarely arrested, let alone prosecuted, according to the
Kyiv Post.
In Russia, there is a burgeoning "Cybercrime to Cybercrime" business in which specialized teams of hackers form "companies" offering services such as training, administration, malware development and other specific skills that other gangs hire on a need-to-steal basis, according to Moscow-based consultancy Group-IB, which published a study on the Russian cybercrime market in April.
The main sources of malicious activity – and therefore the location of most of the jobs in cybercrime – were the U.S. and China,
according to a recent report from security firm Symantec.
