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US security chief warns of malware 'market'

The head of the US National Cybersecurity Center has warned that more must be done to combat the lucrative trade in malicious software.

According to Philip Reitinger, the proliferation of malicious software is a threat to government networks, personal data and national security.

In an interview with the AFP, Mr Reitinger told the news provider that there is an "underground market economy" surrounding the spreading of attacks.

"There is an entire community of people who are involved, organized crime is involved. Hackers now not only assemble botnets, they sell botnets. There is an underground market economy behind that," he said.

He said that hackers were becoming more financially motivated and used hacking to gain access to specific information, like credit card details.

"Cracking is very different now, the threats have become much more sophisticated," he added.

According to PC1 News, rogue-ware and backdoor Trojans are starting to imitate Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool in order to gain access to people's computers.

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