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Well, it seems like every few days we're hearing about another major corporation getting hacked, 

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millions of bits of personal information then cast across cyberspace for everyone to see and potentially steal. 

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Well, that is disturbing enough, but as John Vause reports, it may actually be getting worse.

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It's an ideal criminal platform for Internet attacks. Botnets are cheap to build and anonymous. 

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They quietly steal bank logins, passwords and credit card numbers.

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There's estimated trillions of dollars stolen through botnets every year, so it's a very, very serious syndicate, or sort of cartel, if you will. 

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It's one of the few things out there that actually has more money flowing through it than the drug trade. So, it's a monstrous industry. 

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Botnets are networks of compromised computers infected with so-called cyberworms 

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that give criminals remote command of the machines they infect without the owners knowing.

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Karim Hijazi's botnet-tracking firm, Unveillance, recently found the largest documented botnet, 

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with tens of millions of computers infected in more than 170 countries. 

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It's called Metulji, Slovenian for "butterfly."

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Slovenia seems to be the birthplace of a lot of this. 

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Two cyber-gang members have been arrested in Slovenia and Bosnia, but security firms and international law enforcement agencies believe more are responsible. 

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Among the stealthily organized cyber criminals is a different breed of hackers. 

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They use botnets plus social media as weapons. They claim corrupt governments and corporations are their targets. 

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We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive.

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They're mostly young anarchists. It seems as though they're mostly in large European cities or large American cities. 

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They call themselves Anonymous. This question mark face and the Guy Fawkes mask are their signatures. 

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They send anti-government messages on YouTube and Twitter and have targeted major sites like Google, Sony and the CIA.

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This group is basically about, you know, "fight the power," "fight the Man," "let's take down the CIA." 

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This Friday, they went after the U.S. state of Arizona's law enforcement for the third time, releasing 1,200 officer's user names, passwords and e-mail addresses. 

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Karim Hijazi's company has also been a target. 

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It doesn't make much sense to attack a start-up after you've just hit Sony, 

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so we obviously had something of value they wanted, and clearly it was the botnet information that we had. 

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Hijazi says botnets are a very important weapon for hackers and that Anonymous has started a hacking school to teach others. 

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One of the first things they sort of announced within this hacking school is they're passing out kits or software that can help people facilitate a botnet. 

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It's only a matter of time until someone utilizes a botnet to attack critical infrastructure, and then we're really gonna see something that hits home. 

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You know, the minute they attack something like a power grid or a water treatment facility and take down something in that vein, people are gonna feel it in the general public, and I think that's what's gonna be the bigger scare. 

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The power is the unknown for professional hackers out to make money and hacktivists with or without an agenda.