Computer Crime outpaces Illegal drug sales

[big chopper]

There is a short but interesting article on money.cnn.com
http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/29/tech...ex.htm?cnn=yes

The Treasury Department says that cyber crime has now outgrown illegal drug sales in annual proceeds, netting an estimated $105 billion in 2004, the report said.

At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security's 2005 research budget for cybersecurity programs was cut 7% to $16 million.

Granted, these are all someone's estimates.
--bc,

[Deviant Ollam]

Granted, these are all someone's estimates.

therein lies the big caveat. i personally would refuse to believe that just about anything is larger in sheer scale than the trade of "illegal" drugs in the united states. the abject lunacy as the War on Drugs (TM) has its foundation in the fact that everybody who wants drugs can get them at any time with little to no risk or cost. couple this together with the fact that something like one third of the country are illegal drug users and you have what can pretty safely be estimated to be the largest segment of the underground marketplace in modern human history.

[VAX_to_PBX]

Most of the Bush Administrations Budget is un-accounted for, it's probably more than Two Hundred Billion too! I like when CNN shows local state liqour store robbery segments when war is breaking out.

[big chopper]

The article probably has no merit, but this is what people are reading.
--BC,

[Deviant Ollam]

The article probably has no merit, but this is what people are reading.

oh, i didn't mean to have my comments seem as if i was critical of you for posting it. (don't know if you took it that way at all) i appreciate it being brought to our attention, as i'm certain that many people here might be conflicted regarding how to feel about these figures.

i mean, on the one hand, an article like this might cause enough public outcry that some small portion of the War on Drugs (TM) budget dollars could be pulled and put to better use (most likely a teeny-tiny portion, unfortunately, when i'd be happy seeing the entire federal allotment cut by about three fourths, with the remaining funds put exclusively into education and treatment programs) but then, any additional money that is funnelled into cybercrime units would be put towards god-knows-what end... going after kazaa nodes and warez sites as opposed to eBay fraud and nigerian scams.

truth be told, the most likely outcome of any public agitation would be to simply throw more money into the cybercrime budget (while simultaneously upping the War on Drugs (TM) funding as well, for good measure) by means of additional taxes or borrowing from the pockets of Interior, Transportation, and the few other underfunded segments of the State that actually accomplish anything.

[NeoSNightmarE]

So lemme get this straight...online fraud and other computer crimes outweigh drug trafficking in the amount of illegal funds getting distributed? I highly doubt it and besides, most statistics are bullshit. I think that when I go to class later I'll use the Law resources online and see what I can find because although there's money in computer crimes...I really doubt that there is THAT much.

[Gadsden]

So next we will be hearing rappers rapping about their bling-bling and phishing scams?

[bascule]

So next we will be hearing rappers rapping about their bling-bling and phishing scams?

Yes, the game has flash, but sometimes hurts
Behind any mistake, hard times lurks
And jail's not your only problem, though you may find
You just may die by a barrage from a... $11 billion fine

Nah, doesn't quite have the same feel to it...

[lil_freak]

Articles like this in my opinion are written mainly to cause some type of public outrage while steering away from actual truths. Not that most of the news we receive isn't in some way distorted.

Yes, the game has flash, but sometimes hurts
Behind any mistake, hard times lurks
And jail's not your only problem, though you may find
You just may die by a barrage from a... $11 billion fine

Nah, doesn't quite have the same feel to it...

Bascule, sometimes you really scare me.

[grimnocturnal]

well wether that is good news or bad news i can't decide but the fact that the budget is going down is good news all around.

[big chopper]

Yet ANOTHER article on the same subject...
http://news.com.com/Computer+crime+c...3-6028946.html
Here the FBI makes the estimate at $67 billion.
This estimate includes the cost of recovering from virus infections. I wonder how many of those infections are facilitated by Outlook...
--BC,

[ck3k]

Those numbers are a bit inflated, it is one of those "lets scare people" stories. The internet is dangerous and all, but with several safe guards your grandma's data should be safe. Doesn't this rather large number not really jive with the amount of money the goverment is spending on the issue?