It's official then. Today's hacker is more likely to be working as part of a crime syndicate than for kicks. And they are likely to be out for profit rather than boyish (or girlish) kicks.

According to this Reuters report Christopher Painter from the US DoJ is seeing a shift in the nature of attackers. In addition The DTI are reporting that UK computer crime is up 50% in the past two years. Whether this increase is because more people are reporting criminal activity or because there is a genuine upturn we don't know. Whatever angle you take it can only mean one thing—IT assets are at risk and need to be effectively secured today, not tomorrow.