Romania emerges as new world nexus of cybercrime

It was nearly 70 degrees below zero outside, but the e-mail on a computer at the South Pole Research Center sent a different kind of chill through the scientists inside. "I've hacked into the server. Pay me off or I'll sell the station's data to another country and tell the world how vulnerable you are," the message warned. Proving it was no hoax, the message included scientific data showing the extortionist had roamed freely around the server, which controlled the 50 researchers' life-support systems. The FBI traced the e-mail to an Internet cafe in Bucharest and helped Romanian police arrest two locals - the latest evidence that computer-savvy Romanians are fast emerging as a bold menace in the shadowy world of cybercrime. "It's one of the leading places for this kind of activity," said Gabrielle Burger, who runs the FBI's office in Bucharest and is working with Romanian authorities to arrest suspects. Law enforcement documents obtained by The Associated Press portray a loosely organized but increasingly aggressive network of young Romanians conspiring with accomplices in Europe and the United States to steal millions of dollars each year from consumers and companies. Their specialties: defrauding consumers through bogus Internet purchases, extorting cash from companies after hacking into their systems, and designing and releasing computer-crippling worms and viruses. Alarmed authorities say the South Pole case underscores the global impact of this new breed of cyber-outlaw. Today, Romanians get their first computer lessons in nursery school. Universities have top-notch IT programs whose graduates are heavily recruited by Western companies. Microsoft Corp. recently acquired GeCAD, a leading Bucharest data-security firm.