Dirtbags on the Internet - Part 1 - The list

I've decided to get back to basics and introduce you to the dirtbags of the Internet. Although I know none of them in person I feel that we ALL suffer from their acts either directly or indirectly.

Note: This post is based on a presentation delivered by Microsoft LCA representative who took part in our roundtable event last week.

Their motives and goals are simple and easy to understand (even by my mother) :

1. Wreak havoc/cause trouble. This might be just for fun, ego or any other challenging reason.
2. Make money. Like any other scum in the real world. They just use the new and easy techniques suddenly available online.
3. Grow infrastructure. While this goal serves the other, this is where our dirtbags spend the most of their days.

Here is a list of favorite Dirtbags activities. I will touch on few of those in coming posts.

•DDoS

•Spam

•419 scam

•Money laundering

•Identity theft/phishing

•Searching for vulnerabilities

•Domain squatting

•Scareware

•Spyware

•Adware

•Click-fraud

•Malvertising

•DNS poisoning

Now, raise your hand (or post a comment) on how many of those are recognized (by name) and familiar (more intimate knowledge) ?