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Europol Chief: 100 Hacker 'Kingpins' Lead Global Cybercrime

"We roughly know who they are. If we can take them out of the equation, then the rest will fall down."
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Hacks and other cyberattacks happen every day, all over the globe. But a European official believes only "around 100" hackers are behind global cybercrime.

"We roughly know who they are. If we can take them out of the equation, then the rest will fall down," Troels Oerting, the head of the Europol Cybercrime Centre, told BBC's Tech Tent radio program. He believes the majority of the "kingpins" are based in Russian-speaking countries. Oerting blamed law officials' difficulty in containing cybercrime on several factors: the borderless nature of remote hacks, the so-called "Internet of Things" expanding the potential attack sites from laptops and phones to refrigerators and cars, Edward Snowden's revelations and increased encryption of online communications.

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