( CNN ) -- Cyber criminals are setting snares that move at the speed of news . Savvy cyber criminals are taking advantage of our increasing reliance on computers and the Internet . Panda Security , a Spain-based antivirus maker , has been monitoring an onslaught of links with malicious software , or `` malware , '' on Twitter that tag hot topics such as the Air France crash , the NBA finals , `` American Idol '' runner-up Adam Lambert and the new iPhone . `` Cyber criminals have been targeting Twitter users by creating thousands of messages ( tweets ) embedded with words involving trending topics and malicious URLs , '' Sean-Paul Correll , a threat researcher for Panda Labs , wrote recently on a blog for the company . The growing sophistication of malware attacks mirrors the growing threat -- and cash -- generated by online crime . Already , cyber crime is estimated to cost companies and consumers more than $ 100 billion worldwide . Some officials claim it has now eclipsed illegal drugs as a criminal moneymaker . `` It 's very seldom reported ... if discovered by companies , they generally do n't want the public to know they 've been had , '' said Eugene Spafford , a computer security specialist at Purdue University who has advised two U.S. presidents and numerous companies and government agencies . Cyber crime is one of the few industries benefiting from the financial crisis . Last year , antivirus maker McAfee saw a 500 percent increase in malware types -- more than the company had seen in the previous five years combined . In the United States , the FBI reported a 33 percent increase in Internet crime last year . Companies lost an average of $ 4.6 million in intellectual property last year , according to a survey of 1000 firms worldwide by Purdue University and McAfee . `` As the economy has declined , we 've seen the threat landscape increase , '' David DeWalt , president and CEO of McAfee , recently told Richard Quest for CNN International 's `` Quest Means Business . '' That increase has helped antivirus makers such as McAfee snare record returns -- the company 's first quarter profits were 21 percent higher than same period last year . But companies and governments find themselves in a losing war with Web-savvy criminals , experts say . `` The fundamental fact is cyber criminals are highly organized with sophisticated corporate structures and business chains , '' said Michael Fraser , director of the Communications Law Centre at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia . `` They have R & D departments , strong distribution networks and Web sites for the discerning cyber criminal , '' Fraser said . On these Web sites , would-be criminals can purchase toolkits to learn how to side step security measures or create their own `` botnet '' -- referring to software that can , unbeknownst to victims , turn their computers into spamming foot-soldiers for criminal networks . One Web site advertises software that can capture information for a popular Internet secured-payment provider for $ 500 -- discounted to $ 400 for the first 100 buyers . Skimmed credit card numbers and other personal-identity information stolen from computers also can be found for sale on Web sites , Fraser said . `` When police shut these Web sites down , they just mushroom up some other place , '' he said . Although the techniques of cyber crime have evolved , online criminals prey on human vulnerabilities like criminals throughout the ages . In the digital age , that means tempting with free downloads , money schemes and pornography . The range of tools used by cyber criminals reveals the quick evolution of the industry . Viruses -- the first generation of the computer culprits -- are used for the computer equivalent of vandalism , as the malicious programs replicate , spread and damage computers . `` When the company was set up , we were seeing two or three new viruses a week , '' said Mahendra Negi , chief financial officer of Tokyo-based antivirus maker Trend Micro . `` Now there 's a new one every two-and-a-half seconds . `` With the arrival of spam in 2001 and 2002 , the big difference was it was commercial malware , '' Negi said . `` Once money became involved , the level of sophistication raised a hundred-fold . '' Now the biggest threats include `` phishing '' schemes and `` botnet '' attacks . Phishing is where criminals masquerade as a legitimate business or Web site and trick victims into revealing passwords , credit card information and other personal data . Botnet attackers commandeer personal computers as part of a large network of `` zombie '' computers that , on command , target companies for spam attacks to cripple IT capabilities . Botnets -- some of which are large enough to deploy tens of billions of spam e-mails a day -- are often used in extortion schemes . `` They ring up the IT manager of a company and say , 'Pay us a million or we 'll take you down ' , '' said Fraser , who has worked with companies victimized by botnet attacks . Companies often pay up and shut up , computer experts say , rather than report the crime and garner publicity that may hurt their corporate reputation . And unlike prankster virus-makers , these malware makers are determined to stay hidden . `` Once it became a business , then ( cyber criminals ) began to look at what companies like us were doing , and figure out weaknesses , '' he said . `` They are very customer friendly ... they sell updates , they will highlight what the product does and what antivirus software ca n't detect them . Adding to the difficulty is the legal situation that in many jurisdictions , it is not illegal to create or sell malware . `` It 's like the arms industry ... it 's not a crime to build and sell them , '' Negi said . And because of the transnational nature of the crime , it 's extremely difficult to prosecute . A scan of 500 headlines on Internet-related arrests from newspapers around the world the past two years found about 90 percent were related to child-pornography cases . `` Child pornography is easier to prosecute because it is possible to find the evidence on the perpetrator 's computer systems , '' said Spafford of Purdue University . Cyber-criminal networks are as porous as the Internet itself . `` There are multiple jurisdictions and unless it 's an ongoing crime that uses the same path all the time , the trail goes cold quickly , '' Spafford said . `` I may be able to trace back to a computer system , if I 'm lucky , or trace it back to a cyber cafe -- but how do I know who was behind it ? '' Often criminal networks are run in countries such as Russia and China , where government officials turn a blind eye to these activities -- so long as their victims reside outside the host country , Spafford said . `` For the host countries , that 's dangerous ... it 's kind of like breeding tigers in the back yard and saying , 'Well , they have n't hurt anyone here yet , ' '' he said . `` Mexico is a wonderful example ... they tolerated drug smugglers for years , and now it 's such a major problem and incredibly painful and costly to run them out . `` I 'm not saying ( cyber criminals ) are involved in physical violence , but it 's not out of the realm of possibility , '' he said . `` What are they doing with all that money ? ''
Some officials say organized crime has eclipsed drug trafficking as a money maker . Latest ploy is installing malicious software in various Twitter accounts . Some companies give in to extortion and remain silent , officials say . Their credit card numbers can be advertised for sale on Web sites .