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Cyber crime 'more sophisticated than ever'

Cyber crime has developed to become more sophisticated than ever before and have been likened to Mafia gangs, according to a recent report.

In the second quarter report from secure web gateway company Finjan, discussions between researchers and resellers of stolen data are revealed, reports the British Computer Society (BCS).

Cyber crime gangs are now hierarchical organisations, the report says, and have pricing and business models as well as established techniques such as malware.

These organisations are like the Mafia in that they have a boss at the head of each gang who manages other bosses beneath them, according to the report.

Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technical officer of Finjan, told BCS: "[The cybercrime market] has evolved into a booming business, operating in a major shadow economy with an organisational structure that closely mimics the real business world."

Meanwhile, SecurityPark.co.uk reports that a report by AVG Technologies has revealed that 18 per cent of computer users have no anti-virus software on their PCs.