14 DAY TRIAL // Cyber-crime is said to do a lot more damage than the whole drug distribution "industry". That being said, it means that hackers cause more financial losses than drug dealers do. And I'm not just saying this, it's McAfee CEO David DeWalt that said cyber-crime is now worth $105 billion. That is a huge number and surpasses the value of illegal drug trade worldwide.
Does this surprise you? It shouldn't and let me tell you why - just think about the numerous possibilities of cyber-crime. It's not just about taking down the Pentagon website, oh no, it's much more than that. Let's just take a look at piracy - every person that downloads a single illegal MP3 is a cyber-criminal. Yeah, that's right! It's just like stealing CDs from a shop. Anyone that uses a pirated version of some software is a cyber-criminal as well. And you don't need to be tech-savvy to commit these crimes.
Cyber-crime is a lot easier to commit than real life crime is. To distribute drugs you need to know some dangerous people, you need to go places and eventually carry a gun. It's not something easy to do. But what about cyber-crime? Well, you sit in your own home, behind proxies and firewalls, drinking a cup of coffee while sending millions of spam-scam messages. Cyber-criminals are not only much more numerous, but they're harder to catch too. I don't know if a pump-and-dump scam could bring in as much money as a cocaine shipment would, but the fact that there are hundreds, maybe thousands trying this every day makes cyber-crime figures go sky high.
And one more thing: starting with a certain age, your parents and teachers will keep telling you how bad drugs are. Some people try them just for "fun", but when it comes to computers, things are different. Parents and teachers will never warn you about cyber-security - that's for sure!