They make a killing by stealing data and passwords. Who are these dangerous lurkers and what do they get out of it? They are cyber hijackers and till sometime ago, they were doing it for fun and to be known as the best hijacker in town.

Things have changed and now they do it for making a fast buck. They come much younger, smarter and tech savvy now and can outsmart even the smartest crackers of all.

These hijackers have high earnings, and can earn as much as $2 for your cell number, up to $500 for your credit card number and as much as $400 for your bank customer ID and PIN. Your worth has increased with time and if have a corporate identity, you could be worth thousands of dollars. Don’t be too happy about your worth, as the more worthy you are, the more at risk you are.

Falling prey to the cyber mafia is not difficult. There lurkers infest places where there are hundreds of people and hijack people’s computers. Social networking sites that are so popular with everyone are their best bet.

They turn your computer into a BOT (hijacked computer.) Usually a spyware of malware is downloaded onto the computer, which then holds the computer captive and sends all the data to the person who has done this, exposing all your passwords to him. Thinking of all those times you were asked to download these for free? (more…)