Computer crime goes open source
In a new report, antivirus company McAfee says writers of malicious code are collaborating more and more with their partners in crime from around the world. McAfee says virus writing has taken on the characteristics of the open source software movement, in which software writers work together over the Internet to improve their code. The analysis appears in McAfee's Sage, a new semi-annual report.
A separate report concludes that American businesses are actually losing less money due to viruses and other security breaches every year. According to a survey of 616 U.S. companies by the Computer Security Institute and the FBI's Computer Intrusion Squad, losses decline almost 20 percent over the last year.
