Online crime gets more professional

Long term criminal contracts mean online networks are becoming more efficient

Phishing tools can be bought online

Criminals who sell tools for others to perform illegal activities online are locking middlemen into long term contracts as online crime becomes more professional.

A network propagating the sale of hacking tools has been known about for some time, but this is the first time criminals have established long term business deals.

The deals mean that new and updated tools to get around security measures can be distributed more quickly, thus increasing their effectiveness, according to the latest Symantec Internet Security Threat Report.