Akash Bansal

Are Arrests Preventing The Spread of Cybercrime?

On March 3, 2010, authorities arrested three individuals who according to CNN were responsible for one of the largest virus networks on the web. The network in question involves a well known virus and is speculated to have affected over 13 million computers across 190 countries.

With the arrest comes much criticism. Some claim that these individuals are “often the middlemen instead of the kingpins” in the industry. The Vice President of popular antivirus company Symantec noted that starting a network, “takes no more skill than it takes to run Microsoft Office.”

The article suggests that instead of expending time and chasing the individuals who utilize these programs, it might be in the public’s best interest to go after the software programmers instead.

Full article on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/05/cyberattack.prosecute/index.html