Top 10 positions in a hacker organization

 
Think hackers are some evil-minded people working in disparate parts of the world with little or no networking among themselves? Time to get a reality check! As US investigative agency FBI recently revealed that hacker organizations are increasingly getting more professional, operating with corporate-like efficiency and expertise.

During a presentation at the recently-held FOSE 2010 event, Steven Chabinsky, deputy assistant director, cyber division, FBI, listed top 10 positions in cyber criminal organization. They are:

1. Coders/programmers: They write malware code used by the criminal enterprise.

2. Distributors: They trade and sell stolen data and act as vouchers for the goods provided by other specialists.

3. Tech experts: They maintain the hack organisation's IT infrastructure, including servers, encryption technologies, databases, and the like.

4. Hackers: They search for and exploit applications, systems and network vulnerabilities.

5. Fraudsters: They create and deploy various social engineering schemes (example phishing and spam) to dupe computer users.

6. Hosted systems providers: They offer safe hosting of illicit content servers and sites.

7. Cashiers: They control drop accounts and provide names and accounts to other criminals for a fee.

8. Money mules: These money mules complete wire transfers between bank accounts. The money mules in many cases use student and work visas to travel to the US to open bank accounts.
 
9. Tellers: They transfer and launder the illicitly gained proceeds through digital currency services and different world currencies.

10. Organization Leaders: They are often "people persons" without technical skills. Their job is to select the team and choose targets.

"Despite all the advantages of computers and the internet, if we fail to act, the cyber threat can be an existential threat, meaning it can challenge our country's very existence or significantly alter our nation's potential," Chabinsky reportedly told audience.

(The listing appeared in ComputerWorld)