No Recession for the Underground Economy

The so-called underground economy hasn't been touched by the recession. In fact, according to reports published today by Symantec and Gartner, organized crime groups are getting more sophisticated and phishing more than ever.

But, at the same time, the proliferation of criminals has created competition in the marketplace, making stolen card and identity data cheaper. Crime may be increasing, but it's paying less.

The report attributed part of the increase to a 47 percent increase in bots over last year. In fact, a new variant of Conficker may be linked to the notorious Storm bot.