Hacking for economic gains becomes "emerging industry": report

Cyber-attacks, which are mostly intended for economic gains, have become an "emerging industry," said an Austrian report released Thursday.

"Hacking occurs where it pays off financially," said Sonja Stessl, state secretary in the Federal Chancellery, at the presentation of the Austrian Internet Security Report 2014.

The report noted that hacking has become a brisk trade, in which perpetrators steal data such as email lists or passwords to get money from spammers or identity thieves.

The Computer Emergency Response Team, which drafted the report, said almost 16,000 known cases of hacking occurred in Austria in 2014, up from fewer than 12,000 in 2013. Cyber-attacks are also becoming more complex, said experts of the team.

While many people pay much attention to security on their computers, they tend to become lax when it comes to other devices such as smartphones and tablets, which may also contain personal information and other sensitive data, the experts said.

They also warned that phishing, where attempts are made to acquire sensitive information such as passwords through fake websites and emails, is becoming a weapon of precision targeting people of fortune. Endi