[ISN] Russian hackers 'the best in the world'

[InfoSec News]

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/0,2000061744,39187427,00.htm

By Dan Ilett
Special to ZDNet 
07 April 2005 

The Russian police's cybercrime division, known as Department K, has
warned that Russian hackers are the best in the world.

"Everyone knows that Russians are good at maths," said lieutenant
general Boris Miroshnikov of Department K. "Our software writers are
the best in the world, that's why our hackers are the best in the
world."

Speaking at the e-Crime Congress in London on Tuesday, Miroshnikov
said that the casual teenage hackers of the past developed their
techniques as they grew older.

"It used to be naughty boys [doing this]," he said. "But now they've
grown up. They realise if you are clever at something then you should
use it to earn a living. They are hacking to get rich and uniting over
networks."

Miroshnikov called for unified international laws for Internet crime
that would make it easier for the police to carry out arrests and
charges around the world.

On Tuesday the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit's said that cybercrime cost
UK firms AU$5.9bn last year as consequence of online crime last year.  
Miroshnikov said this was alarming, but that the international police
effort was starting to take effect.

"The statistics are really very worrying," he said. "If you look at
2001, 2002 and 2003, computer crime was doubling. It's only this year
that we've started to hold back the growth. That's because we've
worked so hard.

"When governments get [ISPs], law enforcement, public and private
sector cooperating, then and only then will we be able to succeed in
holding back this type of crime."

Russian hackers have been blamed for a series of distributed
denial-of-service attacks against UK gambling Web sites, who are now
urging ISPs to provide all their customers with better security.