The average hacker is no longer a clever but disgruntled techno-geek. Security experts warned yesterday that dangerous programs, ready for download and use against corporate Web sites, were being uncovered by simple keyword searches on the Internet. AusCERT is part of an international organisation, CERT, that co-ordinates efforts against Internet security breaches. You don't have to be an expert to use them. It is difficult to determine what the motives are.
Some people are joy riders - they like to break and enter systems.
Even breaking into a university will break in overseas first to cover the trail. Others like breaking into well-known systems like financial institutions. Incidents tend to be international in nature. The FBI estimates that 80 per cent of attacks are made by disgruntled employees, with 20 per cent coming from outside the organisation. However, Mr Collie said this was shifting towards 50 per cent as companies failed to take adequate security measures.