The ever-weakening job market may pose a big threat as it may lead to an increase in online crime. The laid-off workers, more specifically those with computer skills, may turn to scams to earn money to support themselves. This was revealed in a mid-year security report released on Tuesday by Cisco Systems Inc.

Disgruntled employees targeting former employers can be very dangerous because as insiders they know the security weaknesses of the organization.

In April, police arrested a former information technology analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on suspicions of taking out loans using false identities.

Cisco’s report also talked about the danger of using short-term IT consultants or contracting out the tasks to someone outsider. It urged companies to “be particularly vigilant about the level and term of their access to sensitive data.”

The report also included snippets of a conversation with a botmaster, (who hijacks computers and sells users’ information to spammers) who mentioned that hackers are earning huge amount of money by phishing bank accounts (Phishing is the practice where the hackers convince users to provide valuable information ex. Bank a/c password, and then use the information to steal the money in the bank accounts).

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