Credit Crunch Forcing Software Engineers Into Crime

Credit Crunch Forcing Software Engineers Into Crime

Unemployed software engineers could become the latest threat to corporate IT security, as the current economic slump forces many to turn to online crime, according to the chief executive of security firm Kaspersky Lab.


Eugene Kaspersky told at the firm's New Dimensions press event in Moscow today that the financial crisis will lead to less investment in start-ups, and even the closure of some software companies.



"You can read it in the news; there is less investment and some firms will disappear," he said. "So I am afraid there will be a lot of unemployed software engineers, and some of them will go into cyber crime."



Kaspersky also argued that the current economic crisis will force governments and enterprises to put more of their services online in order to cut costs, leading to richer pickings for the criminal fraternity.