US National Cybersecurity Center thinks that more efforts to be put in to fight the lucrative trade in malicious software, which is threatening sensitive personal and government networks.

Philip Reitinger, Head, US National Cybersecurity Center thinks that spread of malware like botnets (these are the programs that hijacks computers to dig out sensitive data) has already created an “underground market economy” which is spreading and it is in turn spreading the 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.”

Even national government capabilities are also not getting rid of such botnet attacks. Recently US President Barack Obama unveiled a review of cybersecurity policy, which revealed that the digital infrastructure was “not secure or resilient” to cybercrime and state-sponsored intrusions. Government reports point towards targeting the US electricity grid and F-35 fighter jet programs.

Threats have been raising these days and often the capabilities of governments and organizations are not enough to defend their systems. Previously curious kids were the hackers mostly who wanted a name for themselves but now the scene has changed. Now people want credit card information or other specific information from other’s computers. The threats are becoming more sophisticated.

The trade in malware has increased and spread hackers’ capabilities regardless of motive. Such trade also makes the origin of attacks more difficult to trace.

Global cooperation and government measures to help businesses improve online identity checks will definitely help to improve the situation.