Political, economic hacking needs attention
Hacking for political and economic purposes isn't getting the attention it deserves, says McAfee's vice president of threat research, Dmitri Alperovitch, who uncovered the Operation Shady RAT hacks.
McAfee's report on Operation Shady RAT (PDF) revealed a single hacking operation that had infiltrated more than 70 organisations, in some cases remaining undetected for more than five years. The attacks weren't necessarily sophisticated in a technical sense, but they were well planned and persistent.
The targets included think tanks and sporting organisations, as well as more obvious government and business targets, which is a clear indication that at least part of the motive was political. However, political attacks haven't been high on the agenda for policy makers. More traditional cybercrime matters have dominated, such as credit card fraud and identity theft.
