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Article: The growing threat of cyber-extortion.(Technology)
- Article from:
- Risk Management
- Article date:
- April 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Risk Management Society Publishing, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The growth of the internet and online commerce has created enormous economic opportunities for not only, legitimate businesses but also for criminal gangs. In particular, computer criminals are taking full advantage of the new technology" to update old extortion rackets and shake down companies by threatening to cripple their websites, release confidential customer information, or vandalize networks and erase critical data. Cyber-extortion is a rapidly growing problem for online retailers, financial institutions and web-based companies with seasonally' dependent businesses that could be hurt badly by an ill-timed shutdown. While the pay-off demands are normally less than ...