Back in the Dark Ages marauders would routinely raid various principalities and carry off everything that wasn’t nailed down. Acting either independently or under the auspices of one warlord or another, these raiders pretty much acted with impunity. Fast forward to 2012 and it’s a wonder how little progress has been made stopping “digital” raids in these more modern times.

While most of the focus on cybercrime these days has been on financially motivated attacks,  “hactivism” has re-emerged as the primary motivation behind distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

The FBI, acting in concert with law enforcement authorities in other countries (primarily New Zealand), took down the popular website Megauploads by seizing its servers and other assets, shutting down its domains and arresting the people who run the site. It was a well-planned, coordinated attack that missed a few people, but got most of the principals.

The latest cybercrime alert from the FBI warns of malware targeting personal bank accounts, high-end retailers and even those who work at home.

Japanese media this week broke the news that the Japanese Defense Ministry is in the midst of a $2.3 million effort with partner Fujitsu Ltd. to design a so-called "good virus."