Cyber extortion targets office workers.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: Up front: news, trends & analysis

In London, cyber blackmail artists looking to make an easy pound are threatening office workers via e-mail. Police said the criminals threaten to delete computer files or install pornographic images on an employee's PC unless he or she pays them a ransom.

The extortion seam indiscriminately targets anyone on the corporate ladder with a PC connected to the Internet. It starts with a cryptic e-mail in which the author claims to be able to take over a worker's computer through an opening in the corporate network, investigators said. The e-mail typically demands that unless a small fee is paid--usually $20 or $30--they will attack the PC with a file-wiping program or download images of child pornography onto the machine.

Because the ransom is small, people tend to pay up and keep quiet. But British detectives advise against cooperating with the con artists because doing so may encourage them to come back for more.

The London case is not isolated. In fact, crime gangs are turning cyber extortion into big business worldwide. According to Finnish computer security firm F-Secure, a large Scandinavian university was hit in January when several school officials received an e-mail from an individual who appeared to be based in Estonia. The e-mail said that several security vulnerabilities had been detected on the university's network and that unless the e-mail recipient transferred 20 euros ($25 U.S.) to the author's online bank account, he would release a series of viruses capable of deleting computer files...