Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz. USA Today. 2009/01/29. Page A1.  According to security specialists, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the fear and confusion created by the current crisis in financial markets by instigating a massive wave of Internet-based schemes to steal personal data and carry out fraud.

The Internet security firm Panda Security reports that the number of malicious programs on the Internet tripled to over 31,000 a day in mid-September, when the U.S. financial sector collapsed.  Ryan Sherstobitoff, a spokesman with  Panda, said, "The criminal economy is closely interrelated with our own economy.  Criminal organizations closely watch market performance and adapt as needed to ensure maximum profit."  Specialists predict that the increase in cybercrimes could accelerate.

Organized groups have become better at assembling massive networks of infected computers, called botnets, and using them to gather large caches of stolen information.  This lengthy article provides a number of examples of cybercrimes and reports on the efforts of Internet sites, the FBI and the Secret Service to combat cybercrimes.

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