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Fighting cybercrime in an economic downturn

Editor's note: This is part of a series of stories about the recession's effect on the tech industry.

Last month, McAfee cybercrime strategist Pamela Warren sat down with a senior executive at a Sydney bank to discuss the risks to the corporate network from workers using social networking.

After going over the trade-offs associated with allowing insiders to use social networks at work, his team confirmed that they would use data leak prevention technology to monitor the network traffic--balancing the desire to benefit from such new technologies while ensuring company secrets remain protected.

Warren had a similar meeting with a U.S. government agency last week to discuss strategies for dealing with public employees using Web apps at work and mobile devices, which can introduce viruses and other security problems into a corporate network. And she's been preparing for the launch early next year of McAfee's Cybercrime Response Unit, a site where consumers can go when they think they've been victimized by online scams.

She's sharpening her focus on protecting Internet users because malware attacks are up now that economic times are tough. Online scammers have been going into overdrive with phishing and other online schemes aimed at people confused about the banking consolidation or who are desperate because of a layoff or foreclosure. In fact, there are direct correlations between targeted cyberattacks on consumers and the stock market decline over the past few months.

"It's a ripe economy to take advantage of people," she said.

Consumers are being scammed in a variety of ways. People are receiving phishing e-mails asking them to provide their bank account information so as to avoid having their bank account closed in a merger. They provide their bank information and their account balance is plundered.

People also are getting e-mails and seeing ads on the Web for work-from-home "jobs" where all they have to do to become an "international sales rep" is open a bank account to receive money in and then wire the money to some international third party. In reality, the transaction is nothing more than a money-laundering move, known as a "cyber mule operation," to transfer money to another country and hide the trail in an illegal deal. Typically, the transaction is a payment for some kind of illegal activity such as the exchange of lists of credit card information or personal data that can be used for identity fraud. (McAfee published a report about the rise in cybercrime earlier this week.)

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Protests and fighting in Greece over the police shooting death of a teen-age boy flared again Tuesday as rioters clashed with police in front of the parliament building and at the boy's funeral.

Thousands paid their respects to the boy at his funeral, but a small number of protesters there grew violent at the end of the ceremony.

Some 10,000 people marched on the country's parliament in Athens on Tuesday to express their anger over the teenager's death, and also other issues like the economy, jobs, and allegations that the government is corrupt.

Groups clashed with riot police at the parliament and across central Athens.

Street riots started over the weekend after Athens police killed 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos on Saturday. Six young protesters had pelted a police patrol car with stones, and the teen was shot as he tried to throw a fuel-filled bomb at the officers.

While the shooting occurred in a neighborhood where there have been regular clashes with police, it immediately sparked clashes and riots in Athens and Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city. The violence then spread to other municipalities.

The events have exacerbated the unpopularity of the ruling party and left Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis scrambling to shore up support

On Tuesday, he met with President Karolos Papoulias and cabinet members before briefing political leaders on the country's security situation.

Cleaning crews worked for hours early Tuesday to clear the mess left by the riots, but evidence of the violence remained. In some places, entire rows of shops still have broken windows.

The mayor of Athens asked residents not to dispose of garbage for a day because many of the city's trash bins were destroyed in the violence.

Karamanlis vowed again Tuesday that those responsible for the violence would be punished. See images of anarchy on Greek streets »

"I assured the president that no leniency will be tolerated in holding people accountable," he told reporters. "No one has the right to use this tragic incident as an alibi for actions of raw violence."

Athens police said 12 policemen were injured in Monday's violence and 87 people were arrested. There were 10 flashpoints across Athens where police confronted rioters, police said. Watch protesters clash with police »

Many of the young people who rioted holed up at universities, taking advantage of a decades-old rule that bars police from entering university grounds. The rule came into force after tanks crushed a 1973 student uprising protesting the ruling military junta.

The dean of Athens University resigned Tuesday as a result of the students' violent behavior.

Public and private schools and universities across the country were shut again Tuesday. Watch as iReporter witnesses the clashes

Demonstrators torched government buildings and the offices of the ruling conservative party in central Athens. They also set cars and trash containers ablaze.

Monday, young demonstrators barricaded streets in Athens and Thessaloniki and hurled gasoline bombs as they battled police. Clouds of tear gas hung over the capital as police tried to disperse the crowds. iReport.com: Are you there? Share photos, video of rioting

The police officer who fired the fatal shot at the teenage boy has been charged with "manslaughter with intent" and suspended from duty, police said, adding that a second police officer was arrested Saturday on criminal accessory charges.

Government officials, including the interior minister, have condemned the shooting.

Authorities conducted an autopsy on the boy Monday in an effort to clarify the circumstances of the shooting, but the boy's family has called in their own investigators to verify state findings, the Athens coroner told CNN