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Cyber crime franchises proliferating

Cybercriminals tend to operate on the fringes of the technology sector creating malicious software and spam, it has been claimed.

However, according to internet security expert Brian Krebs, traditional cyber crime gangs are starting to open the equivalent of franchises across the web.

Some of the most active franchises are paying people to distribute their software on a pay-per-install basis.

He claimed: "Experts say one of the longest-running and most successful of these pay-per-install operations is an organisation called InstallsCash, which pays distributors to spread a variety of invasive programs."

The group provides individuals with the infected software and then pays between $5 and $140 for every 1,000 computers infected, he added.

However, the rates paid will be higher for infected PCs and Macs in the UK, US and Italy.

The claims come after the US National Cybersecurity Center's Philip Reitinger warned that there is a growing market in malicious software.

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