Malware Industry Propping Up Job Market For IT Grads

from the where-the-money-is dept

Fri, Dec 8th 2006 8:31am — Joseph Weisenthal

One of the big trends in cybercrime has been the rise of hacking for profit, as opposed to mischief and notoriety. That's why we've seen fewer of the big, disruptive attacks, and an increase in quiet attacks that siphon away data or money without bringing too much attention upon themselves. As part of this evolution, attackers have become really sophisticated about dividing up their roles; some write the malicious code and sell it; others host it on the botnets they've been harvesting, and so on. There was even a case of one hacking group coming up with their own video to advertise their services. Now, according to a study, they've adopted yet another characteristic of traditional business college recruitment. In a bid to get the best and the brightest on their sides, criminal gangs are going after IT students, hoping that the lure of easy money will convince them to cross over to the dark side. They do this by engaging with people on IT chat rooms and message boards. If all this sounds a little familiar, it's because it's not too unlike the infamous "Hack Heaven" piece that disgraced journalist Stephen Glass wrote for the New Republic. In it he described a fabricated hacker convention, where top hackers were recruited by agents. Maybe if he'd just waited a few years, he could have written an honest story about this.

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9 Comments

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The Original Just Me, 8 Dec 2006 @ 9:09am

Hmmmm
I suppose it might be true, but you risk recruiting an undercover officer and/or a dufus who can't code, seems like that would be too risky for them
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Billy, 8 Dec 2006 @ 9:33am

IT's code?
Most of the IT people I have known do not really code much of anything.
It is the computer science side that do the coding, not the networking.
This is not all inclusive of course.
There are occasionally IT people who write their own scripts to do things for them, which I would consider coding and I believe most others would agree.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Dec 2006 @ 10:02am

hell i got a computer science degree and if they want me to code for the for easy money, id be down. there are no jobs for us right now and i need the cash to pay my college loans
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Gtrplayer, 8 Dec 2006 @ 10:44am

Re:
So I'm not the only comp sci grad that can't find a job. I thought it was just me.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Dec 2006 @ 11:26am

It is possible to get a legitimate, accredited compsci degree and know nothing more than a 12th grade hobbyist. I dont know anything about the compsci job market and I wouldnt dare to question your skills, but I am simply saying that having such a degree doesn't guarantee a person anything.

Now, I am tempted to see if I can break into this industry so I can subvert the bastards and bring them ruin.
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Ju1c3, 8 Dec 2006 @ 11:30am

degree...
I dont know anything about the compsci job market and I wouldnt dare to question your skills, but I am simply saying that having such a degree doesn't guarantee a person anything.

i agree the degree doesnt do everything for you, but it would help if someone would hire a newbie to the industry so they can get expierence. the catch 22 is you need expierence to get a job but no one will give you the expierence you need. it sucks hard core, but what else is a guy to do. i will admit my skills arent the greatest, but i do have skills, more so then a 12th grade hobbiest. so we'll see what happens in the future, and if someone offers me a job programming, whatever the program may be ill take it in a second to get that expierence i so desperately need.
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Gtrplayer, 8 Dec 2006 @ 11:37am

Re: degree...
That's exactly my problem. No experience but can't land that job to get experience. I'm probably competing with all the people that were Bangalored.
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Jess, 8 Dec 2006 @ 11:50am

Re: Re:gtrplayer
you guys picked the wrong computer field to go into. its all about networking. everyone wants to be interconnected right now. that's why i went into Collins College's personal computing/networking program. expensive but at least its specialized
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Dec 2006 @ 7:49pm

Collins College is a joke man. Go to a real college.
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